BIRDS-AQUILINAE-HALIAETUS LEUCOCEPHALUS. 
43 
bill much the shorter, and very nearly as represented in Audubon’s plate. In fact, we have 
seen several specimens, always of large size, which have agreed precisely with his figure in all 
respects, except the scales of the tarsi. 
Several specimens of the larger bird are now before us, all of which were obtained in New 
Jersey, and are described above. It is, we suspect, a more southern bird than the common 
white headed eagle. 
HALIAETUS ALBICILLA, Linnseus. 
The Gray Sea Eagle; The European Sea Eagle. 
Vultur albicilla, Linn. Syst. Nat. I, 123, (1766.) 
Falco ossifraga et melanaetos, Linn. Syst. Nat. I, 124, (1766.) 
Haliaetus groenlandicws, Brehm, Yog. Deutsch. I, 16, (1831.) 
Figures.— Selby Ill. Brit. Orn. pi. 3 ; Gould B. of Eur. I, pi. 10. 
Large; wings long; tail rather short. Adult. —Tail white ; head and neck pale yellowish brown, in some specimens very 
light; all other parts of the plumage dark umber brown; quills nearly black ; bill, feet, and irides yellow. 
Younger. —Bill brownish black ; entire plumage dark brown, with the tail mottled with white, much varying in extent; 
throat paler, frequently nearly white ; irides brown. 
Total length, female, 35 to 40 inches ; wing, 25 to 28 inches ; tail, 12 to 15 inches. Male, total length, 31 to 34 inches ; 
wing, 22 to 25 inches ; tail, 1] § to 13 inches. 
Hab. —Greenland. Europe. Spec. Mus. Acad. Philadelphia. 
This eagle, which is common on the coasts of Europe, and rears its young in cliffs on the sea 
shore, we give as an inhabitant of Greenland. It has never been noticed in any more southern 
locality on the continent of America. We have had no sufficient opportunity of examining 
specimens ; in fact, have seen but a single one represented to be from that country, which was, 
unfortunately, that of a young bird. 
HALIAETUS LEUCOCEPHALUS, Linnaeus. 
The Bald Eagle; The White-headed Eagle. 
Falco leucocephalus, Linn. Syst. Nat. I, 124, (1766.) 
Falco pygargus, Daudin, Traite d’Orn. II, 62, (1800.) 
Falco ossifragus, Wilson, Am. Orn. VII, 16, (1813.) • 
Figures. —Catesby’s Carolina I, pi. 1 ; Vieill. Ois. O’Arn Sept. 1, pi. 3; Wilson Am. Orn IV, pi. 36, VII, pi. 55 ; Aud. 
B. of Am., pi. 31, 126 : Oct, ed. I, pi. 14. 
Large, but smaller than either of the preceding eagles. Bill large, strong, straight at base, rather abruptly hooked ; wings 
long; tarsi rather short. 
Adult. —Head, tail, and its upper and under coverts white. Entire other plumage brownish black, generally with the edges 
of the feathers paler ; bill, feet, and irides yellow. 
Younger. —Entire plumage, including head and tail, dark brown ; paler on the throat; edges of the feathers paler or fulvous, 
especially on the under parts ; tail more or less mottled with white, which color in more advanced age extends over a large 
portion of the tail, especially on the inner webs. Bill brownish black ; irides brown. 
Total length, female, about 35 to 40 inches ; wing, 23 to 25 inches ; tail, 14 to 15 inches. Male, 30 to 34 inches ; wing, 20 
to 22 inches ; tail, 13 to 14 inches. 
Hab. —All of temperate North America. Accidental in Europe. Greenland. Iceland. Spec, in Mus. Acad. Philada. and 
Nat. Mus. Washington. 
This is one of the most handsome birds of the family of eagles and is the best known, 
especially as it has received the high honor of having been adopted as the heraldic represen¬ 
tative of the great confederacy of the United States. This eagle possesses extraordinary swift- 
