4 



THE YOUNG NATUEALIST. 



The members of this order are charac- 

 terized by having the lower mandible short 

 and blunt, and the upper one pointed, and 

 bend downward over the end of the lower 

 one. The claws are long and powerful, and 

 much incurved. The birds are very strong 

 on the wing, and live upon the flesh of other 

 animals, which they capture mostly by chase. 

 They live singly, or in pairs, two pairs seldom 

 breeding near each other. The female is 

 generally larger than the male, and the eggs 

 are often of a rounded form, being nearly of 

 equal thickness at both ends. The young 

 birds are at first clothed with a soft down, 

 and remain in the nest until they are able to 

 fly. 



FAMILY I.— FALCON I D/E. Leach. 



Falconid>e, Falco, the Latin name for a 

 Falcon. The termination of this word, and 

 of the names of other families which are to 

 follow, means that the birds in that particular 

 family bear one general family likeness, as if 

 they were descendants from a common 

 ancestor. 



The members of this family vary greatly in 

 size, as will be seen from the measurements 

 of the different birds. The wing is large, and 

 the pinion feathers hard, and adapted for 

 quick strong flight. The legs (with two 

 exceptions) are not clothed with feathers 

 below the knee joint. They have three toes 

 before and one behind, the hind one being as 

 long as the outer ones. The nest is placed 

 either on the ledge of some cliff, or in a tree, 

 is very slightly put together, and the eggs are 

 white or grey, with or without more or less 

 red or brown spots or blotches. 



Genus 1, — Haliatus. Seiby. 



Hali AeTUs. — llalios (Gr.) Marine, aetos 

 (gr.) an eagle. 



The only representative of this genus in 

 Britain is large, the beak large and powerful, 

 and the legs and feet clothed in front with 

 large rough scales. It is separated from the 

 next genus, because it seems, from its habits, 

 to come nearer to the vultures. 



i. WHITE-TAILED EAGLE. 



Haliaetus albicilla, Gmel. 



Sea Eagle (America). 



Erne (Gaelic). 



Hafs orn (Sweden). 



Goastern (Lapland). 

 Albicilla. — Alius (L.) white, cilia (L.) a tail. 

 Size. — An average adult male of this fine 

 species measures rather under three feet from 

 bill to tip of tail, and about seven feet in expanse 

 of wings. Young birds are under this measure- 

 ment, and adult females are even larger. 



[ Plumage. — Few birds of prey differ 

 more than this one in the plumage according 

 i to their age. The adult male has the bill 

 straw color ; cere yellow ; eye bright yellow. 

 The whole of the head and neck is covered 

 with long pointed feathers, whitish brown in 

 color, with darker shafts; the back and breast 

 \ are brown, each feather margined with paler 

 i color. The large primary wing feathers are 

 black, with white shafts. The secondaries 

 | are paler. The tail, which is rather rounded 

 I at the extremity, is white, except at the base 

 j of the feathers which is brown. The legs 

 , and feet are pale yellow, clothed in front 

 \ with large coarse scales ; the claws are large 

 and black. The tarsi are not covered with 

 feathers, as in the next species, at any period 

 i of the bird's existence. Immature birds 

 vary according to their age, but about the 

 second year the bill is bluish black, paler 

 towards the base ; cere yellow. The eye at 

 this stage is chestnut brown. The head and 

 neck is dull brown, the base of all the feathers 

 being whitish. The breast has generally a 

 few white feathers, which decrease in number 

 as the bird advances in age. The rest of the 

 body and tail is brown, the tail becoming 

 whiter as the bird advances towards maturity. 

 ! The Young are at first covered with a whitish 

 or "murrey colored down" (Montague). 

 I They remain in the nest about two months 

 j before they are able to fly, which event is 

 generally accomplished by the middle of 

 August. Varieties have occurred pure 



