526 WHAT IS THE ‘‘ WASHINGTON EAGLE"? 
fered, according to Audubon, in three important particulars 
from the common Bald or White-headed Eagle (Haliaétus 
leucocephalus) ; namely, in size, habits, and in the scutella- 
tion of the tarsi. Its size (length, "three feet seven inches ;" 
alar extent, "ten feet two inches ; folded wing, “thirty-two 
inches") greatly exceeds that of any known North American 
eagle, while it differed in habits from the Bald Eagle in 
being a true fishing eagle, and the scutellation of the tarsus, 
as represented in Audubon's plate, is a character quite un- 
usual in any of the eagles. Tt is now well-known that the 
common White-headed Eagle will catch its own fish, instead 
of resorting to piracy for them, as is its usual habit. In 
respect to the scales of the tarsus, those in front are repre- 
sented as being considerably larger than they are in the 
common eagle, but as this is one of the first figures Audubon 
published, it seems not unreasonable to suppose that they 
may not have been quite accurately drawn, and that his 
description of them was made from the plate instead of the 
specimen itself. It is difficult, however, to account for its 
great size, since the proportions of length of body and folded 
wing, to the alar extent are the same as in the common eagle, 
and hence leave little ground for the theory that through a 
typographical error the alar extent should read seven feet 
two inches instead of ten feet two inches, as has been sug- 
gested. 
As already remarked, Audubon really obtained but a single 
specimen; and, as Mr. Cassin has observed, no specimen 
precisely corresponding to Mr. Audubon's bird having been 
obtained since its discovery, it has latterly, as Mr. Cassin 
adds, "been looked upon by naturalists, especially in Eu- 
rope, as an unusually large specimen of the White-headed 
Eagle.”* Numerous local observers have, however, re- 
ported it as occurring occasionally at different localities, and 
Mr. Cassin himself has doubtfully referred specimens to it 
taken in New Jersey. He even includes it as a good species 
* Illustrations of the Birds of California, Texas, etc., p. 111, 1854. 
