4^0 OBSERVATIONS ON THE IDENTITY OF 
general description of the Ring-tailed Eagle. Soon after- 
wards it began to moult. I attentively watched the pro- 
gress of the moulting. The tail-feathers, after the change 
was completely effected, were now considerably altered in 
appearance ; as the line which divided the white or basal 
half of the tail from the other part, and which, previous to 
moulting, was distinct and well-defined, became somewhat 
interrupted or irregular, by spots of a hair-brown and ash- 
grey encroaching upon the white. At each succeeding 
periodical change of feather, these spots and blotches in- 
creased in number and size, advancing upwards upon the 
white, in form of indistinct bars, till the whole, with the 
exception of the roots of the feathers, which appear always 
to remain white, became clouded with brown and deep 
ash-grey, — the characteristic colours of the tail of the 
JF*. chrysattos. This was accomplished a short time ago^ 
when the bird had attained its fourth year. Except in size, 
it now resembles in its markings a magnificent specimen of 
the Golden Eagle, which I also possess alive^ and which I 
received from Scotland, but not till after it had attained 
the adult or mature state. The habits and manners of these 
birds are similar, and their note is the same. — -In further 
confirmation of this change, I may add, that, in the autumn 
of 1821, when upon a tour to the Highlands of Scotland, 
I had an opportunity of examining two confined eagles at 
Mar Lodge, the hunting-seat of the Earl of Fife. They 
were then about fourteen months old, having both been 
taken from the same eyry the summer of the preceding 
year. One of them had commenced moulting, and had al- 
ready renewed several of its tail-feathers, which were 
readily to be distinguished from the old rectrices, not only 
by their freshness and gloss, but by the encroachment of 
several ash and hair-brown spots upon the white caudal 
band. A sketch of the appearance it then exhibited was 
