FALC0N1D.E. 13 



the charm, for instantly, shooting 1 down with the velocity of an arrow, it impaled 

 itself on the point of his weapon ! 



The Golden Eagle is said to build its nest on rocks or on very lofty trees, and 

 to lay two, or more rarely three, egg's of a soiled-white colour. It preys chiefly 

 on the young of the mountain sheep, fawns, hares, &c, and is scarcely ever 

 observed to feed on carrion. The American Golden Eagle has seldom been sepa- 

 rated by naturalists from the European one ; but a nominal species has been 

 assigned to both countries, under the name of the Ring-tail, which is, in fact, the 

 young Golden Eagle, distinguished by the base of its tail being white until it 

 reaches its third year. The Ring-tails, probably owing to their being less wary, 

 are much oftener shot than the old birds, and I have not seen an American spe- 

 cimen of the latter, although Prince C. Buonaparte mentions his having obtained 

 one from the Rocky Mountains along with several Ring-tails. Pennant and 

 Latham, on the authority of Mr. Hutchins, mention this bird as an inhabitant 

 of Hudson's Bay ; but it is a very rare and casual visitant of the districts that 

 were frequented by the Hudson's Bay fur-traders in Pennant's time, and Mr. 

 Hutchins's manuscript Notices, to which I have had access, evidently refer to the 

 F. leucocephalus. Even Pennant himself, who seems to have been Mr. Hutchins's 

 guide in applying the scientific names to the Hudson's Bay birds, has figured a 

 young Sea Eagle (F. albicilld) for the Golden Eagle in his British Zoology. The 

 White Eagle * mentioned by Du Pratz in the History of Louisiana was probably 

 a variety of the Golden Eagle, corresponding to the White Eagle f of the Swiss 

 Alps noticed by Brisson. 



DESCRIPTION 



Of a specimen, supposed to be under three years of age, shot by Mr. Drummond, in lat. 55°, on the eastern side of the 

 Rocky Mountains, as it was in the act of pouncing upon a small dog. 



Colour. — The head and neck are covered by slender pointed feathers, which are white at 

 their bases, dusky-brown in their middles, and have yellowish-brown points. The general 

 colour of the plumage on the dorsal aspect is dull liver-brown, without spots or shadings, except 

 when some of the feathers are ruffled, and their white bases appear. The greater coverts and sca- 

 pularies are of a more faded brown than the rest of the upper plumage, and the quill feathers 

 are darker, approaching to blackish-brown. The base of the inner webs of the first six quill 

 feathers are white ; and on the seventh, eighth, and ninth, the white extends to both webs. 

 The wing underneath is hair-brown, with an imperfect white band on the bases of the sixth 

 and subsequent quill feathers. The tail is white at the base, blackish-brown towards the end, 

 and narrowly tipped with white. The brown occupies less space on the two middle feathers, 

 not exceeding one-sixth of their length, and is sprinkled with white. The outer feathers are 



* Penn. Arct. Zool., ii., p. 97- Falco candidus. Lath. Ind., i, p. 15. 

 t Falco albus. Gmeiis. Syst., p. 257. F. cygneus. Lath. Ind., i., p. 14. 



