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WHITE-TAILED HAWK. 
white, as well as those first on the lores, those nearest the eye 
black; irides brownish-red; eye-lids white; cilia long and black; 
orbits black, wider before the eye; front line over the orbits, sides 
of the head, neck, and body, and whole inferior surface of the bird, 
together with the thighs, pure white; head pearl-gray, becoming 
gradually darker from the pure white front towards the neck and 
back, which are entirely bluish-ash, as well as the rump, scapulars, 
secondaries, and greater wing-coverts; smaller and middle wing- 
coverts, deep glossy-black; spurious wing blackish; lining of the 
wing, and inferior coverts pure white, the latter with a wide black 
patch; primaries on both surfaces slate-colour, the shafts black, 
and, the first excepted, margined exteriorly and slightly at tip with 
dusky, and interiorly with whitish; the margin of the inner web is 
of a remarkably close texture, with a very soft surface; the first 
primary is a little shorter than the third; the second longest; the 
two outer ones are slightly serrated on their outer web. When 
closed, the wings reach within less than an inch of the tip of the 
tail. The tail is seven inches long, slightly emarginated, and 
with the outer feather more than half an inch shorter than the 
adjoining one; the middle feathers are very pale bluish-slate, all 
the others pure white; shafts above, black towards the tip, and 
beneath white; that of the exterior tail-feather white, tipped with 
dusky above towards the base; feet bright yellow-orange; tarsus 
one inch and a half long, feathered in front half its length, the 
remainder covered with small reticulated scales; toes separated 
to the base; nails large, black, very acute, and with the exception 
of the middle one, perfectly rounded beneath; the middle one is 
very sharp on the inner side. 
The Male is of a smaller size; the upper surface, instead of 
being bluish-slate, is more of a dirty grayish, slightly tinged with 
ferruginous; the tail is less purely white. These sexual differences 
are the more worthy of note, as they are the reverse of what is 
