34 BALD EAGLE. 



nearly to the feet, and are also streaked longitudinally with dark brown. 

 The irides of the eyes of this bird have been hith-erto described as being 

 of a brilliant yellow ; but every specimen I have yet met with had the 

 iris of a deep hazel. I must therefore follow nature, in opposition tc 

 very numerous and respectable authorities. 



I cannot, in imitation of European naturalists, embellish the history 

 of this species with anecdotes of its exploits in falconry. This science, 

 if it may be so called, is among the few that have never yet travelled 

 across the Atlantic ; neither does it appear that the idea of training 

 our hawks or eagles to the chase ever suggested itself to any of the 

 Indian nations of North America. The Tartars, however, from whom, 

 according to. certain writers, may of these nations originated, have long 

 excelled in the practice of this sport ; which is indeed better suited to 

 an open country than to one covered with forest. Though once so 

 honorable and so universal, it is now much disused in Europe, and in 

 Britain is nearly extinct. Yet I cannot but consider it as a much more 

 noble and princely amusement than horse-racing and cock-fighting, 

 cultivated in certain states with so much care ; or even than pugilism, 

 which is still so highly patronized in some of those enlightened countries. 



Species IV. FALCO LEUCOCEPHALUS. 



WHITE-HEADED, or BALD EAGLE.* 



[Plate XXXVI. Female,] 



Linn. Syst. 124. — Lath, i., 29. — Le pygargue d Ute blanche, Bupf. i., 99, pi. enl. 

 411.— Arct. Zool. 196, No. 89.— Bald Eagle ~C a'Cesb. i., l.t 



This distinguished bird, as he is the most beautiful of his tribe in 

 this part of the world, and the adopted emblem of our country, is enti- 

 tled to particular notice. He is represented, in the plate, of one-third 

 his natural size, and was drawn from one of the largest and most perfect 

 specimens I have yet met with. In the back ground is seen a distant 

 view of the celebrated cataract of Niagara, a noted place of resort for 

 these birds, as well on account of the fish procured there, as for the 



* The epithet bald, applied to this species, whose head is thickly covered with 

 feathers, is equally improper and absurd with the titles Goatsucker, Kingfisher, &c., 

 bestowed on others ; and seems to have been occasioned by the white appearance 

 of the head, when contrasted with the dark color of the rest of the plumage. The 

 appellation, however, being now almost universal, is retained in the following pages. 



t We add the following synonymes. — Falco Leucocephalus, Gmel. Sysl. i., p. 255. — 

 Lath. Ind. Orn. p. 11. — Aigle d tUe blanche, Temm. Man. d' Orn. p. 52.— L'Aiglt 

 pygargue, Vieillot, Ois. de. I'Am. Sept. i., p. 27, pi. 3. 



