Genus Larus. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. p. 224, (1766.)
Larus Heermanni. Cassin. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci., Philada., Vol. VI. p.
187, (1852.)
Form. Bill rather long and slender; wings very long, extending beyond
the end of the tail; first primary longest; tail truncate or slightly
emarginate.
Dimensions. Adult. Total length of skin from tip of the bill to the end
of the tail, about 17½ inches; wing, 13½; tail, 5½; bill from the angle
of the mouth to the tip of the upper mandible 2½ inches.
Colors. Adult. Bill red, both mandibles tipped with black; feet and legs
dark; head white, which color gradually blends into an ashy lead color
enveloping the entire body above and below—darker on the back and wings
and paler on the abdomen. Secondary quills tipped with white, forming an
oblique bar when the wings are folded. Superior coverts of the tail very
pale cinereous, nearly white. Quills and tail feathers brownish black,
all of the latter narrowly tipped with white. Shafts of the two first
primaries white on the inferior surface of the wing.
Young. Smaller, total length about 16 inches, wing 13, tail 5 inches.
Entire plumage brown, darker on the head and paler on the under surface
of the body; quills and tail feathers brownish black, the latter
narrowly tipped with white.
Hab. Coast of California. Spec. in Mus. Acad. Philada.
Obs. We are acquainted with no species of Gull which intimately
resembles the bird now described. Judging from the only description
extant of _Larus Belcheri_. Vigors, which is in the Zoological Journal,
Vol. IV. p. 358, and which is too short to be of service in this family
of birds—it appears to resemble that species to some extent. _L.
Belcheri_ is much larger, and is described as having the entire plumage
brownish lead-color, and as being 21 inches in total length. It appears
to be, however, the only western American species with which our present
bird can be confounded.
[Illustration: Plate 6
The Northern Sea Eagle
Haliaëtus pelagicus (_Pallas_)]
HALIAETUS PELAGICUS.—(Pallas.)
The Northern Sea Eagle.
PLATE VI—Female.
The study of the rapacious birds of western and north western America
presents great attractions to the ornithologist, and a wide field for
discovery.
Owing, principally, to the difficulties in obtaining, or even in
observing the shy and vigilant birds of this family, their investigation
is of peculiar character, and dependent on accidental opportunity in
some measure every where, but especially in countries where the
primitive forests yet flourish in undisturbed vigour, and which abound
in unexplored and, as yet, inaccessible mountains; or in plains of an
extent only known to the adventurous hunter, and traversed only by the
wandering Indian, or by the pioneers of civilization: the devoted
missionary, or the enterprising and hardy emigrant. Such is the
character of the regions of that portion of North America, the visits of
naturalists to which have been too transient to afford proper
opportunities for the study of the rapacious birds, and the detached
items of information which have appeared from time to time are not
sufficiently numerous to be regarded as giving any clear insight into
their history.
The naturalist, generally travelling expeditiously with a military or
other party on business for the government, or with a caravan of
emigrants, may get a glimpse of a Falcon of singularly novel and
beautiful plumage as it darts away into concealment; or may see,
occasionally, an Eagle seated at ease, and viewing the novel cavalcade
leisurely, but beyond the range of his rifle; or as he performs, in
turn, his assigned duty, and guards his sleeping companions in the
encampment, his watch-fire may attract clamorous night birds of strange
forms whose cries are unfamiliar to him, but to his practised ear may
present unmistakable family relationship, yet it is readily demonstrable
that the proper study of those birds requires facilities of a
description only attainable in the course of more protracted residence
and frequently recurring opportunities.
The discovery in western America of the Californian Vulture, second in
size only to the great Condor of the Andes; of the Ferrugineous Buzzard,
_Archibuteo ferrugineus_, one of the handsomest of the American Falcons;
of the Burrowing Owl, a very remarkable species which lives in holes in
the ground; of the Little Californian Owl, _Athene infuscata_, the most
diminutive of its family yet discovered in the United States, and of
other curious species, may be regarded as affording an indication of the
interesting results in this group of birds which will reward the future
labours of naturalists and travellers in those vast and diversified
regions.
The bird which is the subject of our present article is the largest and
most powerful of the Eagles. It is a native of the remote sea-coasts of
northern Asia and America, and has been especially observed in the group
or girdle of islands which extends from one continent to the other.
It also, very probably, extends its range into the interior of Russian
America, and possibly southward, in the winter season, into Oregon and
California. In size, and in the strength of its beak and talons, this
gigantic Eagle far surpasses any other of its tribe. The Golden Eagle,
and the White-headed Eagle, are comparatively insignificant; and if its
habits correspond to its powerful organization, as may safely be
presumed, it is one of the most destructive of the rapacious birds. It
appears, however, like other species of its genus, to prey principally
on fishes, which are caught either by its own exertions, or appropriated
summarily by the right of the strongest, from the acquisitions of more
expert or more successful fishermen.
Though, like the White-headed or Bald Eagle, the range of this
extraordinary bird may be very extensive, yet the solitudes of the
extreme northern parts of the two continents appear to be its proper
home; where, it has been fully demonstrated, that although the resident
animals of the land are necessarily restricted in numbers, the sea teems
with multitudes of inhabitants. There, in the bleak regions of almost
perpetual winter, the Great Sea Eagle reigns, a mighty chieftain,
without a competitor, and with power unrivalled: finding ample
subsistence in the arctic quadrupeds, and in the fishes of the northern
seas, or occasionally levying tribute from the hosts of feathered
travellers that make their annual pilgrimage to the places of their
nativity, and intrude on his domain. Even the famous Condor of the
Andes, the largest of Vultures, scarcely exceeds him in size, and in
swiftness of flight, and power of beak and talons, is much his inferior.
Pallas, a celebrated Russian naturalist, was the first who gave a
satisfactory and reliable account of this Eagle, in his Zoology of
Asiatic Russia, I. p. 343, (published at St. Petersburg in 1811, though
printed many years previously,) but it appears to have been previously
noticed by the distinguished navigators, Steller and Billings.
Before the time of Pallas, and, it may be added, since, also, various
reports of remarkable and sometimes very large Eagles having been seen
in different parts of America, were from time to time made by travellers
and voyagers. In fact, some are carefully and credibly described which
are yet unknown to naturalists. Capt. Cook, in the account of his last
voyage, or rather in that part of it which was written by himself,
states that several Eagles, one of which is very remarkable, were seen
at Kayes’ Island, on the northwest coast of America, in latitude 59° 49′
N. “We saw,” he says, “flying about the woods, a Crow, two or three of
the white-headed Eagles, mentioned at Nootka, and another sort full as
large, which appeared also of the same colour, or blacker, and had only
_a white breast_.” Last Voyage, II. p. 352, quarto, London, 1784. It is
necessary for me to say only, that no species of Eagle having a white
breast is yet known as an inhabitant of any part of America.
In the History of the Expedition of Lewis and Clarke it is stated, that
“The Calumet Eagle sometimes inhabits this side of the Rocky mountains.
The colours are black and white, beautifully variegated. The tail
feathers, so highly prized by the natives, are composed of twelve broad
feathers of unequal length, which are white except within two inches of
their extremities, when they immediately change to a jetty black, the
_wings_ have each a large circular _white spot_ in the middle, which is
only visible when they are extended.” II. p. 188, Philada., 1814. This
statement, though it appears to have been usually regarded as referring
to the Golden Eagle, does not apply to any established species, but it
is worth bearing in mind that in the number of the feathers of the tail,
the bird here alluded to agrees exactly with Audubon’s Washington Eagle,
(Orn. Biog. I. p. 63.)
The black-checked Eagle of Pennant, said to be from North America,
(Arctic Zoology, I. p. 227,) and which is _Falco americanus_, Gmelin, is
described as being “about the size of the Golden Eagle, but with the
head, neck and breast of a _deep ash colour_, each cheek marked with a
broad black bar, passing from the corner of the mouth beyond the ears;
back, belly, wings and tail, black.”
One of the most remarkable of these mysterious birds is the White Eagle,
represented by Du Pratz as inhabiting Louisiana, of whose description of
which the following is a translation: “The Eagle, the king of birds, is
smaller than the Eagle of the Alps, but it is much handsomer, being
_almost entirely white_, and having only the extremities of its wings
black. As it is rather rare, this is a second reason for rendering it
esteemed amongst the people of the country, who buy at a high price the
feathers of its wings to make the ornament of the symbol of peace, and
which is the fan of which I have spoken in giving a description of the
Calumet.” Du Pratz, Histoire de la Louisiane, II. p. 109, Paris, 1758.
On the faith of this description, the species supposed to be alluded to
has been named _Falco candidus_ by Gmelin. If not an albino, there is a
possibility that it is a species of a group of white hawks, of rather
large size, which are principally found in South America, and one
species of which (_Buteo Ghiesbrectü Dubus_,) is known to inhabit
Mexico. The latter would agree very well with Du Pratz’s description, so
far as it goes.
That excellent and reliable naturalist, the Prince Maximilian of Wied,
whose Travels in the interior of North America contain much valuable
information in nearly all departments of Zoology, mentions a “Grey Eagle
of enormous dimensions,” I. pp. 203, 214, (Raise in das innere
Nord-America, Quarto, Coblenz, 1839.)[2]
But there is no end to the accounts of strange Eagles given by
travellers and naturalists. Some of them may have reference to peculiar
species which have in later times escaped attention, but the probability
is, that they more frequently allude to accidental varieties, or that
the authors describe from such reports as they had heard at second hand,
or fell into error from insufficient personal observation.
Several of the naturalists who have recently visited California have
informed us that they saw occasionally large species of Eagles, or other
large rapacious birds, of which they did not succeed in procuring
specimens, nor in approaching within sufficiently short distance to be
enabled to examine them satisfactorily.
We have introduced the extraordinary bird which is the subject of our
present article, thus early into our work, for the purpose mainly of
asking attention to a most remarkable and interesting species heretofore
apparently entirely unknown to American Ornithological writers, and also
on account of its similarity, in some respects, to one of the most
important of Audubon’s discoveries, the Washington Eagle. This
celebrated author was not acquainted with the bird now before us.
The specimen of the Washington Eagle, described and figured by Audubon,
does not appear to have been preserved, or at any rate is not known to
be extant, nor does it appear that he ever procured more than one. His
drawing, however, with some others of species which he had met with but
once, appears fortunately to have escaped the destruction of his
collection of pictures of birds by rats, as described in his
Ornithological Biography, Vol. I. Introductory Address, p. 13, (Edinburg
edition, 1831.)
We have no doubt that such a species exists, or in other words, that
Audubon is entirely correct in regarding his bird as a peculiar species;
and we think it quite impossible for his description and history to
apply to the young of the common White-headed or Bald Eagle, as has been
supposed by some American, and by nearly all late European
Ornithologists. But we are disposed, at present, to question the
correctness of his plate, and also his statement that the bird
represented was an “adult male” (Orn. Biog. I. p. 62). We are aware, of
course, that the plate may not be a fair representation of the drawing,
and in fact it has not been very carefully engraved. The tail appears to
be unfinished. Having, however, quite sufficient knowledge of the
difficulties in getting up correct plates of birds, we are enabled fully
to appreciate the disadvantages under which this distinguished
Ornithologist, with all his artistic knowledge and perseverance, must
necessarily have laboured at the commencement of his great work, and his
plate of the Washington Eagle is one of the earliest, being the eleventh
of the series.
The bill, as represented in the plate, is shorter than we have ever seen
in any adult Eagle of this group (the fishing Eagles), and above all the
arrangement of the scales on the tarsi anteriorly, is such as we have
never observed in any rapacious bird whatever.
Notices of the Washington Eagle having been captured, have appeared
occasionally (as in Nuttal’s Manuel, I. p. 71, and the Boston Journal of
Nat. Hist. III. p. 72), and we have seen numerous specimens of Eagles of
a size so large that they could not, without much doubt, be referred to
the common white-headed species. But we have never seen nor heard of a
specimen which presented all the peculiar characters represented in
Audubon’s plate, and especially the anterior scales of the tarsus
continued transversely so far down to the toes. The pointed and slender
feathers of the neck, the large size, and in one specimen of a young
bird, the short bill we have seen, and there are specimens now in the
collection of the Philadelphia Academy in which these characters will be
found, but not the peculiar arrangement of the scales of the tarsus. All
other species of fishing Eagles have the head more or less marked with
white in their mature plumage. In Audubon’s plate of the Washington
Eagle, the head is of the same deep brown as the other parts. From
analogy, therefore, it may safely be presumed that he was mistaken in
supposing his specimen to be that of an adult male bird.
An interesting feature in the large specimens to which we allude, is the
fact that they almost invariably have the ends of their tails broken as
though injured by alighting habitually on rocks, or on the ground, thus
apparently confirming Audubon’s statements. Young birds are however
peculiarly liable to such injury on account of their feathers not
possessing the strength and rigidity of more mature plumage.
Respecting the Washington Eagle, our conclusion is, therefore, after
many years of attention to American birds, and especially to obscure or
little known species, that of the existence of such a species in North
America as is described by Audubon, in Ornithological Biography, I. p.
58, there can be no reasonable doubt. But we are of opinion that when
adult it is very probably a bird with the head more or less white, and
tail of the same colour; and we are disposed to regard the plate in
Birds of America as erroneous, for reasons above intimated, or for
others not at present demonstrable, and at all events as representing a
young specimen. Waiving the presence of the character of the scales of
the tarsi as above stated, we think that we have several times seen the
young of the Washington Eagle, and that specimens of it are now in the
collection of the Philadelphia Academy. It is not, however, so large as
the immense Eagle which in the present article, and accompanying plate,
we have the pleasure of presenting to the American public for the first
time, but it appears to us to be more nearly related to it than to any
other species.
The Eagle mentioned in the History of the Expedition of Lewis and
Clarke, as cited in a preceding page, we are inclined to suspect to be
the present species, but should not be surprised if it should be
ascertained by succeeding naturalists to be the adult of the Washington
Eagle.
The great Eagle now before us has never been observed as yet by an
American voyager, and few specimens only are contained in European
museums. The only specimen in the United States is that in the
collection of the Philadelphia Academy from which the drawing was made
for the present plate.
We have added as a suitable conclusion of our present article a
translation of the original account of this Eagle as given by Pallas,
and which will be found in his Zoology of Asiatic Russia, as cited
above:
“Steller, worthy of a better fate, first observed this remarkable
species, and in his manuscripts briefly described it. Now, also, I have
before me an elegantly prepared specimen from my friend Billings, who,
with the last navigator, explored the ocean between Kamschatka and
America. This very large bird is frequent in the islands between
Kamschatka and the American continent, especially in the islands noted
for the unfortunate shipwreck and death of Bering. It appears very
rarely in Kamschatka itself. In the highest rocks overhanging the sea,
it constructs a nest of two ells in diameter, composed of twigs of fruit
and other trees, gathered from a great distance, and strewed with grass
in the centre, in which are one or two eggs, in form, magnitude and
whiteness, very like those of a Swan. The young is hatched in the
beginning of June, and has an entirely white woolly covering. While
Steller was cautiously viewing such a nest from a precipice, the parents
darted with such unforeseen impetuosity as nearly to throw him headlong;
the female having been wounded, both flew away, nor did they return to
the nest which was watched for two days. But, as if lamenting, they
often sat on an opposite rock. It is a kind of bird, bold, very cunning,
circumspect, observant, and of savage disposition. Steller saw a Fox
(_Vulpes lagopodus_) carried off by one and dashed upon the rocks, and
afterwards torn in pieces. It lives also on dead substances cast up by
the sea, and various offscourings of the ocean.”