RING-TAIL EAGLE. 
21 
train this eagle for the chase of hares, foxes, wolves, 
antelopes, &c. and that they esteem the feathers of the 
tail the best for pluming their arrows. The ring-tail 
eagle is characterized by all as a generous spirited and 
docile bird ; and various extraordinary incidents are 
related of it by different writers, not, however, suffi- 
ciently authenticated to deserve repetition. The truth 
is, the solitary habits of the eagle now before us, the 
vast inaccessible cliffs to which it usually retires, united 
with the scarcity of the species in those regions inhabited 
by man, all combine to render a particular knowledge of 
its manners very difficult to be obtained. The author 
has, once or twice, observed this bird sailing along the 
alpine declivities of the white mountains of New Hamp- 
shire, early in October, and again, over the highlands 
of Hudson’s River, not far from West Point. Its flight 
was easy, in high circuitous sweeps; its broad white 
tail, tipped with brown, expanded like a fan. Near the 
settlements on Hudson’s Bay, it is more common, and 
is said to prey on hares, and the various species of grouse 
which abound there. Buffon observes, that, though other 
eagles also prey upon hares, this species is a more fatal 
enemy to those timid animals, which are the constant 
object of their search, and the prey which they prefer. 
The Latins, after Pliny, termed the eagle Valeria quasi 
valens viribus , because of its strength, which appears 
greater than that of the other eagles in proportion to its 
size. 
The ring-tail eagle measures nearly three feet in 
length ; the bill is of a brownish horn colour ; the cere, 
sides of the mouth, and feet, yellow; iris of the eye, 
reddish hazel, the eye turned considerably 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 
