554 



SYSTEM A TIC SYNOPSIS. — EAPTOBES— A CCIPITBES. 



532 A. chrysae'tus. (Gr. xfivfdeTos, ehrusaetos, golden eagle. Fig. 383.) Golden Eagle. Ring- 

 tailed EAGLE. Adult (J 9 : Dark brown, with a purplish gloss, lighter on the coverts of the 

 wings and tail and on the flags or tarsi; the cowl of lanceolate feathers golden-brown. Quills' 

 and tail-feathers blackish, but basaUy more or less variegated or areated with light brown, gray, 

 or whitish ; at maturity these markings becoming extensive and definite. Young birds are 

 blacker than the adults, which " grow gray" with age, and are " ring-tailed," that is, the basal 



portion and finally 

 most of the tail is 

 white, ofiset by a 

 broad black termi- 

 nal zone. Length 

 about 3 feet ; extent 

 6 feet or more : wing 

 2 feet (^1 or more 

 (9); tail 14.00- 

 15.00 inches ((?) 

 or more ( 9 ) ; bill, 

 without cere, 1.50- 

 1.75; tarsus 3.50- 

 4.00. This gi-eat 

 bird inhabits N. Am. 

 at large, as well as 

 Europe, Asia, etc.; 

 in this country rather 

 northerly, S. ordina- 

 rily to about 35°. 

 The American is not 

 fairly to be distin- 

 guished from the 

 European, but on 

 the whole is a larger 

 and " better" bird, 

 like several others 

 of the present fam- 

 ily, as well as of 

 the goose and duck 

 383. — The Eyrie of the Golden Eagle. (DeBigned by H, W. Elliott.) tribes. This I sup- 



pose to be owing to the fact that there is more room for them, more food, less persecution, and 

 altogether- less competition in the struggle for existence. It breeds chiefly in mountainous or 

 boreal regions, the eyrie being usually upon a crag, the nest an enormous platform of sticks, 

 etc. The eggs are subspherical and equal-ended; four selected specimens measure: 2.65 X 

 2.15 ; 2.90x2.40 ; 3.00x2.35 ; 3.10X2.25 ; in 12 cases, only one is white like a bald eagle's; 

 the rest are whitish, wholly indeterminately spotted, splashed and smirched with rich sienna, 

 umber and bistre browns, with neutral-tint shell-markings ; 2, 3, or 4 are laid. 

 187. HALiIAE'TUS. (Gr. dXttifT-or, /laZiaetos, a sea-eagle; 4. e., the osprey.) Sea Eagles. Pish- 

 ing Eagles. General chars, of Aquila, as above, but the tarsi only feathered about half-way 

 down, and no webbing between outer and middle toes. This nakedness of the shank is an in- 

 fallible character : among the several different kinds of eagles popularly attributed to North 

 America, only two have been found on the continent ; the one with the feathered shank is No. 

 532 ; the one with scaly shank is No. 534, whatever its size or color. The scutellation of the 



Pig. 



