Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VI.djvu/358

350 EAGLE eagles, as the crested eagles (spizaetus, Vieill.). The black-tufted eagle (S. ornatus, Daud.) is as large as a raven, black, with a long tuft hang- ing from the occiput, and the edge of the wings and bands under the tail whitish ; the crest is mixed with white ; the thighs and tarsal feath- ers banded with black and white ; tarsus feath- ered to the toes; it inhabits South America. Reptile Eagle (Morphnus urubitinga). Other species are found in Africa and the Indian archipelago, where they live in jungles and woods, pouncing on pheasants, hares, and similar animals passing underneath ; they also seize prey on the wing. The reptile eagles (morphnus, Guv.) are peculiar to South Amer- ica ; they live in the forests, feeding on rep- tiles, small animals, and birds. A well known Brazilian Eagle, or Caracara (Polyborus tharas). species is the M. urubitinga (Gmel.); this is black, without a crest, rump and lower part the tail white; the long tarsi are bare of feathers. The harpy eagles (genus thrasaetus. Gray, or harpy ia, Vieill.) are peculiar to South America; they will be described in the article HARPY. The gemiapandion (Sav.) will be de- scribed under FISH HAWK, the common name of the best known species. The caracara, or Brazilian eagle, does not belong to the aquili- nce, but to the polyborince, a subfamily coming nearest to the vultures ; this bird (polyborus iharus, Molina) is of various shades of brown, with streaks and mottlings of brownish black ; wings barred with white, and the tail coverts dull white barred with dusky ; tail grayish white, with 16 narrow bars and a terminal band of blackish brown ; the length is about 2 ft. and the extent of wings 4 ft., the bill 2 in. It is found from Florida to Brazil, and it feeds on carcasses, small reptiles, and birds; it has the habits of the vultures, with the additional power of carrying prey in its talons ; it walks like the turkey buzzard ; its flight is rapid and graceful. The eagle, in mythology, is the sa- cred bird of the Hindoo Vishnu and of the Greek Zeus. In the Roman ceremony of apotheosis an eagle ascended from the burning catafalque, and was believed to bear the soul of the deceased to Olympus. In the Scandi- navian mythology, it is the bird of wisdom, and sits in the boughs of the tree yggdrasill. The Etruscans were the first who adopted the eagle as the symbol of royal power, and bore its image as a standard at the head of their armies. From the time of Marius it was the principal emblem of the Roman republic, and the only standard of the legions. It was repre- sented with outspread wings, and was usually of silver till the reign of Hadrian, who made it of gold. The double-headed eagle was in use among the Byzantine emperors, to indi- cate, it is said, their claim to the empire both of the East and the West ; it was adopted in the 14th century by the German emperors, and af- terward appeared on the arms of Russia. The arms of Prussia are distinguished by the black eagle, and those of Poland bore the white. The white-headed eagle is the emblematic device of the United States of America, is the badge of the order of the Cincinnati, and is figured on coins. Napoleon adopted the eagle for the emblem of imperial France ; it was not, however, repre- sented in heraldic style, but in its natural form, with the thunderbolts of Jupiter. It was dis- used under the Bourbons, but was restored by a decree of Louis Napoleon (Jan. 1, 1852). EAGLE, a gold coin of the United States, of the value of $10, first coined in 1795, as pro- vided by the act of congress of April 2, 1792, of the fineness of 22 carats (91 6f thousandths), and weighing 270 grains, thus containing 247-i grains of pure gold. The silver dollar con- tained at the same time 37ly grains pure silver, the ratio of valuation of silver to gold being as 15 to 1. An ounce of pure gold being worth more than 15 of silver in Europe, our gold coins continued to be exported until the act of June 28, 1834, substituted the ratio of 16 to 1 by reducing the fineness of the eagle to 899^ thousandths, and its weight to 258 grains, being 232 grains pure gold. By the act of Jan. 18, 1837, the fineness of the eagle, as of all the other gold and silver coins, was