54 
WHITE-HEADED EAGLE. 
they enter the skin; the broadest secondaries are three inches 
in breadth across the vane; the scapulars are very large and 
broad, spreading from the back to the wing, to prevent the air 
from passing through; another range of broad flat feathers, from 
three to ten inches in length, also extends from the lower part 
of the breast to the wing below, for the same purpose; between 
these lies a deep triangular cavity; the thighs are remarkably 
thick, strong, and muscular, covered with long feathers point- 
ing backwards, usually called the femoral feathers; the legs, 
which are covered half way below the knee, before, with dark 
brown downy feathers, are of a rich yellow, the colour of ripe 
Indian corn; feet the same; claws blue black, very large and 
strong, particularly the inner one, which is considerably the 
largest, soles very rough and warty; the eye is sunk under a 
bony or cartilaginous projection, of a pale yellow colour, and 
is turned considerably forwards, not standing parallel with the 
cheeks, the iris is of a bright straw colour, pupil black. 
The male is generally two or three inches shorter than the 
female; the white on the head, neck and tail, being more 
tinged with yellowish, and its whole appearance less formida- 
ble; the brown plumage is also lighter, and the bird itself less 
daring than the female, a circumstance common to almost all 
birds of prey. 
The bird from which the foregoing drawing and description 
were taken, was shot near Great Egg-harbour, in the month of 
January last, was in excellent order, and weighed about eleven 
pounds. Dr. Samuel B. Smith, of this city, obliged me with 
a minute and careful dissection of it; from whose copious and 
very interesting notes on the subject, I shall extract such re- 
marks as are suited to the general reader. 
“ The Eagle you sent me for dissection was a beautiful fe- 
“ male. It had two expansions of the gullet. The first prin- 
“ cipally composed of longitudinal bundles of fibre, in which 
“ (as the bird is ravenous and without teeth) large portions of 
“ unmasticated meats are suffered to dissolve before they pass 
“ to the lower or proper stomach, which is membranous. I 
