B ATE LEUR EAGLE. 
21 I 
watched one of these birds sitting on some dead tree on the river bank itself, 
suddenly utter its shrill, clamorous, half croak-like, half scream-like cry, spread 
out its wings, and sweep across the water in search of winged game on the plains. 
Rising at first in wide circles, until nearly lost to view, it would gradually descend 
in similar gyrations, until with a sudden swoop it would dart upon some unfor¬ 
tunate partridge or hare, and bear it off in its talons. 
The American white-headed sea-eagle ranges from the frozen regions of Alaska 
and the Aleutian Islands to the torrid plains of Mexico, although it is only a 
summer visitant to the more northern portions of its habitat. The nests appear to 
be similar to those of the European species, and but rarely contain more than a 
single pair of eggs. Usually situated in tall pines, at a height varying from twenty 
to one hundred feet above the ground, they may occasionally be found on the 
ground itself. Captain Bendire states that this bird subsists more on winged game 
captured by its own exertions than on fish; and that the accusation of its gaining 
its subsistence mainly by robbing the osprey is unfounded. Still however, like 
others of its genus, there is no doubt that it does at times obtain a meal in this 
comparatively easy manner; and in some cases it has to depend entirely on fish 
for its food-supply. A correspondent writes to the author just referred to, that on 
one occasion he noticed one of these sea-eagles hovering over the sea in a manner 
very similar to that of the osprey when about to strike a fish. “ Suddenly he 
plunged down and grappled with what I supposed to be a large fish, but was unable 
to rise with it from the water, and after struggling a while he lay with wings 
extended and apparently exhausted. After resting a minute or two, he again raised 
himself out of the water, and I saw he had some large black object in the grasp of 
one of his talons, which he succeeded in towing along the top of the water toward 
the shore, a short distance, and then letting go his hold. He was then joined by 
two other eagles, and by taking turns they soon succeeded in getting it to the shore.” 
The booty was a large cormorant, upon which the eagles were about to feast. It 
is a remarkable fact, that of the two eggs usually laid by this species, one is always 
superior in size to the other; the difference between the two in this respect being 
sometimes very great. Steller’s sea-eagle subsists on young seals, Arctic hares, and 
foxes, and ptarmigan, but it will also eat dead fish and the carcases of mammals. 
An inhabitant of the whole of Africa lying to the south of the 
HBit)6l6ur Kd-pfl p • 
’ Sahara Desert, the handsomely coloured bird known as the bateleur 
eagle {Helotarsus ecaudatus ) differs from the sea-eagles, and indeed from all other 
members of the family, by the extreme shortness of its tail, that appendage being 
far inferior in length to the wings. A further point of distinction is to be found 
in the feathers of the head, which are elongated so as to form a voluminous crest. 
As regards coloration, this bird is perhaps the most striking of all the eagles, 
presenting bold contrasts of maroon, black, and grey, which give to the entire 
plumage a most pleasing effect. The head, neck, and under-parts are of a deep 
glossy black, the same hue also obtaining on the scapulars; contrasted with which 
is the chestnut-maroon of the hinder part of the neck and the greater part of the 
back. The wing-coverts are brown with a bronzy sheen; the primary quills 
blackish, externally shaded with grey; while the secondaries are mostly grey with 
white tips, although the innermost have the sooty hue of the scapulars. The tail, 
