206 



KEY AND DESCRIPTION 



grayish bars. The food consists of the larger mammals 

 and birds, though carrion also is eaten ; rabbits, lambs, 

 turkeys, and ducks are prey for this bird. Rare east of the 

 ^lississippi. 



Length, 30-40 ; wing, 23-27 ; tail, 15 ; tarsus, 

 4 ; oulmen, 2. Northern portions of Old and 

 New Worlds, south in America to Mexico ; breed- 

 hig, practically, only in the mountains of sparsely 

 settled regions. 



22. Harpy Eagle (350. ThrasMtos 

 harpijia). — A rare Texas eagle, with the 

 back ashy-gray, mottled with glossy 

 black, and the belly white, more or less 

 blotched with ashy. The head and neck 

 are grayish, darker on the crown, and 

 whiter on the throat. The tail is more 

 or less irregularly banded with black and 

 ashy. The young has the head, neck, 

 and entire lower parts white, with ashy 

 gray on crown and breast. 



Length, .33-40 ; wing, 21-25 ; tail, 16-19 ; tarsus, 4| ; culmen, 2|. 

 South America, north to southern Texas and possibly Louisiana. 



23. Bald Eagle (352. Haliceetus (^-e-tus) Mccocephalus). — A 

 very large, dark-colored eagle, with white head, neck, and tail. 

 This adult condition is not reached till the third year ; before 

 this, the whole plumage is nearly black, but white mottlings 

 gradually appear on the portions that finally become entirely 

 white. The lower part of the tarsus is bare of feathers and is 

 covered with numerous rounded scales. This eagle is seldom 

 found far from water, as its food consists principally of fish 

 and ducks ; dead fish thrown on the shore, fish stolen from the 

 fish hawk, or, if the need is very great, fish captured from the 

 water by its own exertions. 



Length, 30-43 ; wing, 20-27 ; tail, 11-15 ;^ tarsus, ^ ; oulmen, 2J. North 

 America, south to Mexico ; breeding locally throughout. 



Golden Eagle 



