FALCONING. PANDION. 
11 
lengthj the rump, upper and lower tail-coverts, and tail white ; the 
rest of the plumage chocolate-brown, the terminal margins of all the 
feathers pale greyish-brown. Female similar. Young with the bill 
brownish-black, iris dark brown, feet yellow ; the general colour of 
the plumage very dark chocolate, uniform, the feathers without edg- 
ings, all white at the base, that colour appearing more or less on the 
hind part, and more especially on the fore part and sides of the neck, 
and on the sides of the body and lower wing-coverts ; quills and tail- 
feathers brownish-black, tinged with grey toward the base ; the latter 
with the greater part of the inner webs, and a portion of the outer 
brownish-white, freckled with dusky. In more advanced stages the 
colours of the plumage vary considerably in different individuals. The 
general tint continues brown for several years, a variable and often a 
large proportion of white, or brownish- white, appearing on the neck, 
the lower part of the body, the sides, and under the wings, the tail 
meanwhile gradually becoming white in freckled patches, some have 
a large patch of brownish- white across the breast. When the fea- 
thers are new, they are of a glossy deep brown, but when old and 
worn they present a bleached appearance, and the upper parts are 
often patched with pale brown or brownish-white. On account 'of 
these circumstances, individuals of different ages, and shot at different 
periods of the year, differ so much from each other in appearance, that 
one might, without a very extended comparison, conceive that in a 
collection of specimens, there might be several species. The bill re- 
mains dark until the head and tail become white ; the anterior tarsal 
scutella differ from none to six, the posterior from nine to twelve ; those 
on the hind toe are four, on the middle toe from nine to thirteen, 
Male, 84, 84. 
Throughout North America. Resident in the south and west. 
Bald Eagle, Falco Haliaetus, Wi ls. Amer. Ornith. v. iv. p. 89. Adult. 
Sea Eagle, Falco ossifragus, Wils. Amer. Ornith. v. vii. p, 16, Young. 
Falco leucocephalus, Bonap. Synops, p. 26. 
Aquila leucocephala, Wliite-headed Eagle, Swains. & Rich. F. Bor. Amer. v. ii, 
p. 15. 
White-headed or Bald Eagle, Falco leucocephalus, Nutt. Man. v. i. p. 72. 
White-headed Eagle, Falco leucocephalus, Aud. Ornith, Biog. v, i. p, 160, v. ii, 
p, 160, V. V. p, 354, 
GENUS V. PANDION, Sav. OSPREY. 
Bill short, as broad as deep at the base, the sides convex, 
the dorsal outline straight at the base, decurved towards the 
end ; upper mandible with a festoon on the edges at the 
curvature, the tip trigonal, very acute ; lower mandible 
with the edges slightly arched, the tip obtusely truncate. 
Nostrils oval, oblique, large, half-way between the ridge and 
