RING-TAILED EAGLE. 
15 
The Ring-tailed Eagle measures nearly three feet in length ; 
the bill is of a brownish horn color ; the cere, sides of the mouth 
and feet yellow ; iris of the eye reddish hazel, the eye turned con- 
siderably forwards; eyebrow remarkably prominent, projecting over 
the eye, and giving a peculiar sternness to the aspect of the bird ; 
the crown is flat; the plumage of the head, throat and neck long 
and pointed ; that on the upper part of the head and neck very 
pale ferruginous ; fore part of the crown black ; all the pointed 
feathers are shafted with black ; whole upper parts dark blackish 
brown ; wings black ; tail rounded, long, of a white or pale cream 
color, minutely sprinkled with specks of asli and dusky, and end- 
ing in a broad band of deep dark brown of nearly one-third its 
length ; chin, cheeks and throat black ; whole lower parts a deep 
dark brown, except the vent and inside of the thighs, which are 
white, stained with brown ; legs thickly covered to tlie feet with 
brownish white down or feathers ; claws black, very large, sharp 
and formidable, the hind one full two inches long. 
The Ring-tailed Eagle is found in Russia, Switzerland, Ger- 
many, France, Scotland, and the northern parts of America. As 
Marco Polo, in his description of the customs of the Tartars, seems 
to allude to this species, it may be said to inhabit the whole circuit 
of the arctic regions of the globe. The Golden Eagle is said, by 
some, to be found only in the more warm and temperate counti'ies 
of the ancient continent.* It is now, however, ascertained to be 
also an inhabitant of the United States. 
^ Buffon, vol. i, p. 56. Trans. 
