Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VI.djvu/357

EAGLE 349 sistance ; a game cock put into a cage Avith a full-grown male at once attacked the eagle and beat him in the most approved manner, and even the common cock has fairly put this cow- ardly bird to flight. The females are some- what larger, braver, and fiercer than the males. Like the golden eagles, these birds live to a great age. They are generally seen in pairs, and the union appears to last for life. Along the southern Mississippi incubation commences in January ; the nest is placed on the top of a tall tree, and not on cliffs like the golden eagle's ; it is rudely made of sticks, turf, weeds, and moss, 5 or 6 ft. in diameter, used year after year, and added to annually. The eggs are usually two, of a dull white color. The attach- ment of the old birds to their young is great. The weight of the adult male is from 6 to 8 Ibs., that of the female from 8 to 12. The flesh of the young is said to be palatable, hav- ing the taste of veal. Franklin, as quoted by Audubon, laments that this bird should have been selected as the emblem of the United States, on account of its cowardice, tyranny, and general ill condition. As observed in con- finement, the female not only attacks and abuses the male, but stretches her wings to the utmost extent, attempting to cover with them every piece of food placed in the cage. The name of bald eagle is really a misnomer, as the head is as thickly feathered as in any species ; the proper name is white-headed eagle. The bird of Washington (H. WasMngtonii, Aud.) was first described by Audubon (" Ornitholo- gical Biography," vol. i., p. 58), and seems not to have been seen by any other ornithologist ; he first saw it on the upper Mississippi in February, 1814 ; a few years after he met with a pair near the Ohio river in Kentucky, which had built their nest on a range of high cliffs ; two years after the discovery of the nest he killed a male which was the subject of his de- scription; after this he saw two other pairs near the Ohio river. The flight of this is said to be different from that of the white-headed eagle, the former encircling a greater space, sailing nearer the surface of the earth, and darting spirally upon its prey. The bill was bluish black, with pale edges; the iris chest- nut-brown ; upper part of the head, hind neck, back, scapulars, rump, tail coverts, and poste- rior tibial feathers, blackish brown, with a coppery gloss; the throat, fore neck, breast, and abdomen light brownish yellow, each feath- er blackish brown in the centre ; wing coverts light grayish brown, those next the body ap- proaching the color of the back ; primaries and tail dark brown ; anterior tibial feathers grayish brown. The length is given at 3 ft. 7 in., ex- tent of wings 10 ft. 2 in., bill 3 in., tarsus 4 in., and the weight 14| Ibs. ; this was a male, and of course the female would have been con- siderably larger. Though this bird is general- ly admitted as a species on the authority of Audubon, many ornithologists do not regard it as such ; and from Audubon's own testimony there seems sufficient ground for doubting the validity of the species. The white-tailed or cinereous sea eagle of Europe (H. albicilla, Linn.), the young of which Audubon thinks bears the greatest resemblance to his bird of Washington, has at this age a blackish bill ; head and hind neck dark brown, with white markings, disappearing with age; fore neck and breast brown, with brownish white marks ; general color of the plumage light brown, with a dark streak on the middle of each feather. In the old bird the bill becomes yellow, the general plumage grayish brown, palest on the head and neck, and the tail white ; the length is 3 ft., and the extent of wings 6 ft. 9 in. This species, called also osprey, ossifrage, and pygargus, is distributed over the northern por- tions of the old world ; it feeds principally on fish, like our white-headed eagle, forcing the fish hawk to provide for it. It prefers cold climates, and the vicinity of the sea, though it visits the interior rivers and lakes ; when un- Cinereous Sea Eagle (Haliaetus albicilla). able to obtain fish, it feeds upon sea birds, young seals, and any small animals which it can surprise. Its flight is neither so elevated nor so rapid as that of the previously described species. The nest is placed on cliffs near the sea, and the eggs are two, of a dirty white color; incubation takes place in April. The northern sea eagle (H. pelagicus, Pallas) is the largest of the family, and inhabits the islands of Alaska and northeastern Asia, The total length of the female is 3f ft. ; the wings are shorter than usual, and the tail is wedge- shaped. In the adult the bill and the legs are yellow ; the general plumage brownish black, with a large frontal space, greater wing cov- erts, abdomen, and tail, white. In the young the tail is white, with brownish black marks, the quills black, the secondaries and tertiaries white at their bases ; other parts dull brownish black. It is a fishing eagle, though it occa- sionally captures birds and quadrupeds. Ac- cording to Pallas, it breeds in northeastern Asia. There are several genera of smaller