Size large; tarsi short, naked, or feathered for a short distance below
the joint of the tibia and tarsi, and with the toes covered with scales.
Bill large, strong, compressed; margin of upper mandible slightly
festooned; wings rather long-pointed; tail moderate; toes rather long;
claws very strong, curved, sharp. This genus contains about ten species
of all parts of the world, all of which prey more or less on fishes, and
are known as Fishing or Sea Eagles.
1. Haliaetus pelagicus. (Pallas.) The Northern Sea Eagle.
Aquila pelagica. Pallas, Zoog. Rosso-Asiat., I. p. 343. (1811.)
“Aquila marina. Steller, MSS.” Pallas as above.
Falco imperator. Kittlitz., Kupf. Nat. Vog., pt. I. p. 3. (1832.)
Falco leucopterus. Temm., Pl. col. 1. p. (no page.)
Kittlitz Kupf., pl. 2; Temm., Pl. col. I., pl. 489. Cassin. B. of
California and Texas, I., pl. 6.
The largest of the Eagles. Wings rather shorter than usual in this
genus; tail wedge-shaped, and composed of fourteen feathers. Adult.
Large frontal space, greater wing-coverts, abdomen and tail white; all
other parts of the plumage dark brown or brownish-black; bill and legs
yellow. Younger. Tail white, more or less marked with brownish-black.
All other parts brownish-black, lighter on the head and neck. Quills
black, secondaries and tertiaries white at their bases; bill and feet
yellow.
Dimensions. _Female_—total length, 3 feet 8 inches; wing, 2 feet 2
in.; tail, 1 foot 4 inches.
Hab. Russian-American Islands (Pallas); Japan (Temminck & Schegel).
Spec. in Mus. Acad., Philada.
Obs. This very large and powerful bird inhabits north-eastern Asia and
the islands between that continent and America, and probably other parts
of Russian-America. It is the largest of the Eagles, and appears to be
related to the species immediately succeeding.
2. Haliaetus Washingtonii. (Aud.) The Washington Eagle.
Falco Washingtonii. Aud. Orn. Biog., I. p. 58. (1831, plate pub.
1827)
Falco Washingtoniana. Aud. Louden’s Mag., I. p. 115. (April, 1828)
Aud. B. of Am. pl. 11; oct. ed. I., pl. 13.
Large, “bill shortish, very deep, compressed; feet rather short, with
the leg long; the tarsus short, rounded, anteriorly covered with
transversely-narrow sentella, posteriorly with small tuberculous
scales; feathers of the head, neck and breast narrow and pointed;
wings long, second quill longest; tail of ordinary length, rounded,
extending considerably beyond the tips of the wings, of twelve broad
acute feathers.”
“Bill bluish-black, the edges pale, the soft margin towards the
commissure, and the base of the under-mandible yellow; cere
yellowish-brown; lore light greenish-blue; iris chestnut-brown; feet
deep yellow; claws brownish-black; upper part of the head, hind neck,
back, scapulars, rump, tail-coverts and posterior tibial feathers
blackish-brown, glossed with a coppery tint; throat, fore-neck, breast
and belly light brownish-yellow, each feather marked along the centre
with blackish-brown; wing-coverts light grayish-brown, those next the
body becoming darker and approaching the color of the back; primary
quills dark-brown, deeper on their inner-webs; secondaries lighter,
and on their outer-webs of nearly the same tint as their coverts; tail
uniform dark-brown; anterior tibial feathers grayish-brown.”
Dimensions. “Length, 3 feet 7 inches; extent of wings, 10 feet 2
inches; bill, 3¼ inches along the back; along the gap which commences
directly under the eye to the tip of the lower mandible, 3¼ and 1¾
deep; length of wing when folded, 32 inches; length of tail, 15
inches; tarsus, 4½; middle toe, 4¾; hind claw, 2½ inches.” Audubon as
above.
Hab. Kentucky (Audubon); Western and Eastern? Spec. in Mus. Acad.,
Philada.?
Obs. The above description we regard as that of the young bird, and
consider the adult as yet unknown. No specimen precisely corresponding
to Mr. Audubon’s bird, has been obtained since its discovery, and it has
latterly been looked upon by Naturalists, especially in Europe, as an
unusually large specimen of the young white-headed Eagle. It is probably
a western species, and would be readily recognized by the transverse
scutellæ of the tarsi which are continued to the base of the toes.
3. Haliaetus albicilla. (Linn.) The Gray Sea Eagle. The European Sea
Eagle.
Vultur albicilla. Linn., Syst. Nat., I. p. 123. (1766.)
Falco ossifraga et melanaetos. Linn., Syst. Nat., I. p. 124.
(1766.)
Haliaetus grœnlandicus. Brehm, Vog. Deuts., I. p. 16. (1831.)
Buff., Pl. Enl., 112, 415; Selby, Ill. Brit. Orn., pl. 3; Gould, B. of
Eur., I. pl. 10.
Large, bill large, much hooked; wings long; tail moderate. 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;
irides brown; entire plumage dark-brown, with the tail mottled with
white, much varying in extent; throat paler, and in some specimens
nearly white.
Dimensions. _Female_—total length, about 3 feet to 40 inches; wing, 2
feet 3 inches; tail, 1 foot. _Male_—smaller.
Hab. Greenland (Fabricius, Holboll). Spec. in Mus. Acad., Philada.
Obs. This Eagle, which is common in Europe, and breeds in cliffs on the
sea-shore, we give as an inhabitant of Greenland. We have to say,
however, that the only specimen from that country which we have ever
seen, and which is a young bird, presents considerable variations from
European specimens, and we consider it quite possible that Dr. Brehm is
right in giving it specific distinction. The young of this bird
resembles that of the succeeding species (_H. leucocephalus_), and the
most readily-detected difference is its larger size and longer tarsi.
The adults are, however, entirely dissimilar.
4. Haliaetus leucocephalus. (Linn.) The Bald Eagle. The White-headed
Eagle.
Falco leucocephalus. Linn., Syst. Nat., I. p. 124. (1766.)
Falco pygargus. Daud., Traité, II. p. 62. (1800.)
Falco ossifragus. Wilson, Am. Orn., VII. p. 16. (1813.)
Cat. Car., I. pl. 1; Buff., Pl. Enl., 411; Vieill., Ois. d’Am., Sept.,
I. pl. 3; Wils., Am. Orn., IV. pl. 36; VII. pl. 55; Aud., B. of Am.,
pl. 31, 126; oct. ed., I. pl. 14.
Large, but smaller than either of the preceding Eagles; bill large,
strong, much hooked and sharp; wings long; tail moderate; tarsi rather
short. Adult. Head, tail and its upper and under coverts white; entire
other plumage brownish-black, in some specimens with the edges of the
feathers paler; bill, feet and irides yellow. Younger. Entire plumage
dark brown; throat paler; abdomen frequently with fulvous edgings on
many feathers; bill brownish-black; iris brown; tail more or less
mottled with white, which color in a more advanced stage extends over
a large portion of the tail, especially on the inner webs of the
feathers.
Dimensions. _Female_—total length, about 3 feet; wing, about 23
inches; tail, about 14 inches. _Male_—smaller.
Hab. All of North America; Oregon (Townsend); Florida (Bartram);
Accidental in Europe. Spec. in Mus. Acad., Philada.
Obs. This handsome bird, which has had the honor of being adopted as the
emblem of the United States, inhabits the whole of North America. It is
very easily recognized when adult, and the young is not readily mistaken
for that of any other American species except the immediately preceding.