Part 37

The nests that were taken from trees are described as having been built in a crotch, not far from the top, and to have been formed externally of dry twigs, sticks, and small branches, warmly lined with down, feathers, and fine hay. Those found upon cliffs and high river-banks were made of similar materials, but usually with a smaller base of sticks, and a greater supply of hay, moss, and other soft materials. The number of eggs varied from three to five, never more than the latter, and were at times in differing stages of incubation in the same nest. Whenever the nest was approached, the parent birds always manifested great uneasiness, and uttered vociferous screams of distress. The eggs were generally found from the 27th of May to the 25th of June. Those taken after the 20th of June usually contained well-developed embryos. The species was met with by Mr. MacFarlane in great abundance in various localities,—near Fort Anderson, lower down on the Anderson River, near the Arctic coast, and in the vicinity of Rendezvous Lake.

One of the Indians collecting for Mr. MacFarlane informed him that on the 9th of June he discovered the nest of one of these Hawks on a ledge of shaly mud. As he could not kill the parents, he set a snare about the nest. Going to it later in the day, he was disappointed at finding his snare set aside, the eggs gone, and the birds not to be seen. He presumed the parents had removed the eggs, of which there had been three, to a safer place. Several nests were also taken on the shores and among the islets of the Arctic coast, west of Liverpool Bay.

The egg of the Rough-legged Hawk taken by the Storers in Labrador measures 2.06 inches in length by 1.88 in breadth, and is nearly spherical. The ground-color is a soiled white or a light drab, and is marked with a few faint, ill-defined spots of light umber, distributed at intervals over the entire surface.

Two European specimens in my collection are so nearly like the American that the same description would answer for both. They are a trifle larger, but their color and markings are exactly the same. These eggs vary from 2.25 to 2.12 inches in length, and the breadth of each is 1.75 inches. In one specimen the ground-color is of a deeper shade of dingy-white, with larger blotches, and its purplish-slate markings are intermingled with those of umber. A fourth, from Switzerland, varies from most others of this species, and is marked over a cream-colored ground with very numerous and quite large blotches of different shades of umber and sepia-brown. It measures 2.25 by 1.93 inches.

Six eggs taken by Mr. MacFarlane have an average length of 2.18 and an average breadth of 1.79 inches. Their greatest length is 2.24, and their least 2.12 inches. There is but very little variation in their breadth, or only from 1.76 to 1.80 inches. Occasionally these eggs are of a nearly uniform dingy-white, nearly unmarked, and only by very faint cloudings. These cases are rare. Generally they have a creamy-white ground and are boldly marked with blotches of a varying intensity of umber or sepia-brown. Intermingled with these are obscure markings of a purplish-slate.

The dark variety of the Rough-legged Falcon, recognized by some as the _A. sancti-johannis_, Mr. Ridgway is disposed to regard as rather an individual melanism of the common species, rather than as a distinctive race. In this form it appears to be quite generally distributed over the continent, rather in isolated pairs than as a common bird. It was not taken on the Anderson River by Mr. MacFarlane, where the _lagopus_ style was extremely common, hundreds of skins having been sent by him to the Smithsonian Institution.

The dark-colored birds are seen occasionally in Massachusetts in the winter season, and are usually found frequenting low alluvial tracts in search of small quadrupeds and frogs, and occasionally well-marked specimens have been secured in the neighborhood of Boston. A pair was found breeding near the mouth of the Kennebec River in Maine, and the eggs were secured. They were not readily distinguishable from those of the common Rough-legged Hawk. It is also said, on the authority of Mr. John Krider of Philadelphia, to have been found breeding in New Jersey, and the eggs taken. The parent bird was not secured. These eggs resembled well-marked eggs of the _lagopus_. Wilson, who observed birds in this plumage on the marshy banks of the Delaware, describes them as remarkably shy and wary, frequenting river-banks, and feeding on mice, moles, and other small game, sailing a good deal and at a great height, which is not the habit of the _lagopus_, and was seen by him to kill a Duck while on the wing. It has been seen to sit for an hour at a time on a stake by the side of marshes, in an almost perpendicular position, as if dozing. It flies with great ease, and occasionally with great swiftness, and rarely with any flapping of the wings; was most numerous on the Delaware in the winter, but was occasionally to be seen there in the summer. Such is Wilson’s account of its habits as observed by him, and these are partially confirmed by Nuttall from his own observations. It is, however, quite probable that they are mistaken in claiming an essential or specific difference in the habits of the two former. Mr. Audubon regarded it as the adult of the _lagopus_, and appears not to have been familiar with its habits.

Captain Blakiston mentions the occurrence of the dark bird on the Saskatchewan Plains, where the parent bird and three eggs were obtained by M. Bourgeau, a French collector, in the summer of 1858, and where it is spoken of as not uncommon. Mr. Andrew Murray, in his Contributions to the Natural History of the Hudson Bay Territories, records specimens from Hudson Bay and the country lying between its western shore and Lake Winnipeg. Dr. Gambel speaks of this bird as common in California. Dr. Cooper refers to one obtained by Mr. Lorquin at San Francisco. Mr. Lawrence cites it among the birds of New York. Mr. Boardman gives it as rare near Calais. Mr. Verrill also gives it among the birds of Western Maine, where the _lagopus_ was not observed, but where this form was a regular winter visitant.

The Storers found the Black Hawk not uncommon on the cliffs near Bras d’Or, and their observations of its habits, as contrasted with those of the still more common Rough-legged Hawk, left no doubt in their mind of their specific distinction. While the Black Hawk was observed to be a bold, vigorous, and spirited bird, easy and swift in its motions, and preying upon other birds while on the wing, the Rough-legged was comparatively sluggish, inoffensive, and subsisted only upon rats, mice, moles, frogs, and other small game. A nest containing young birds was found, and one of the latter caught alive. Both old and young were in the same black plumage. The young Hawk was fierce and intractable, and its whole air and manner were utterly unlike the conduct of the young of the other species. Unfortunately, it broke from its confinement and escaped.

The eggs from New Jersey, attributed to this bird by Mr. Krider, vary in the number and depth of coloring of their markings, the blotches in one being darker and less generally distributed. They measure 2.06 by 1.69 inches. Their ground-color is a yellowish white, intermingled with which are faint markings and blotches of a brownish-purple. Over these are diffused confluent blotches of russet-brown.

An egg from near Wiscasset, taken by Edmund Smith, Esq., the parent of which was secured, measures 2.22 by 1.75 inches, has a white ground, and is marked and blotched with deep umber-brown. These markings are chiefly at one end and only vary in their depth, and are unmixed with any other shading or colors.

GENUS AQUILA, AUCTORUM.

_Aquila_, MŒHR. 1752. (Type, _Falco chrysætos_, LINN.) _Aëtos_, NITZSCH, 1840. (Same type.) _Hieroaëtus_, 1844, and _Hieraëtus_, 1845, KAUP. (Type, _Falco pennatus_, GMEL.) _Pteroaëtus_, KAUP, 1844. (Type, _Falco vulturinus_, DAUD.) _Uroaëtus_, KAUP, 1844. (Type, _Vultur audax_, LATH.) _Pseudaëtus_, HODGS. 1844. (Type, _Falco bonelli_, TEMM.) _Tolmaëtus_, BLAS. 1845. (Same type.) _Eutolmaëtus_, BLAS. 1848. (Same type.)

GEN. CHAR. Form robust and structure powerful; the bearing and general aspect that of _Buteo_ and _Archibuteo_. Wing long, the primaries long and strong, with their emarginations very deep. Tail rather short, slightly rounded or wedge-shaped. Bill stronger than in the preceding genera, its outlines nearly parallel, and the tip somewhat inclined backward at the point; commissure with a more or less prominent festoon; nostril narrowly oval, vertical; skin of the cere very hard and firm. Superciliary shield very prominent. Feet very strong, the membrane between the outer and middle toes very well developed; tarsus less than twice as long as the middle toe; outer toe equal to, or longer than, the inner; claws very long and strong, very much graduated in size; scutellæ of the toes small except on the terminal joint, where they form broad transverse plates; tarsi densely feathered all round down to the base of the toes; tibial plumes well developed, loose-webbed, their ends reaching down to or beyond the base of the toes. Feathers of the nape and occiput lanceolate, acute, and distinct, forming a nuchal “cape” of differently formed feathers. Third to fifth quill longest; first shorter than the seventh; outer five or six with their inner webs deeply emarginated.

This genus is almost peculiar to the Old World, where about seventeen so-called species are known, while America has no member of the genus exclusively its own, the single North American species being the same as the European one. Though the details of external structure vary somewhat, and the size ranges from that of a _Buteo_ to that of a sea-eagle (_Haliaëtus_), the generic characters given in the above diagnosis apply well to all the species. The species of _Heteropus_, Hodgson, 1842 (_A. malayensis_, REIN. and _H. gurneyi_, Gray), I remove entirely from _Aquila_, since they differ so strikingly in many important respects. With the general aspect of _Aquila_, _Heteropus_ has the outer toe disproportionately shorter than the inner (instead of equal to it, or longer), which curious feature it shares only with _Geranospiza_ of tropical America, and _Polyboroides_ of South Africa,—both terrestrial _Buteonine_ forms of specialized structure. An entirely peculiar feature of _Heteropus_ is the great length and straightness of the claws. Its bill is more like that of _Archibuteo_ than like that of _Aquila_.

The North American and European races of the single species which occurs on the former continent may be distinguished as follows:—

Species and Races.

=A. chrysaëtus.= Wing, 23.00–27.00; tail, 14.00–16.00; culmen, 1.50–1.90; tarsus, 3.40–4.20; middle toe, 2.40–3.10. Third to fifth quill longest first shorter than seventh or eighth. Color blackish-brown, or umber-brown, nearly uniform, except on the tail; nuchal cape of lanceolate feathers, and tarsi of a paler and more tawny tint. _Adult._ Tail transversely clouded with ashy, and not white at the base; feathers of the body not distinctly white beneath the surface. _Young._ Tail with the basal half plain white, the terminal portion plain blackish; feathers of the body distinctly white beneath the surface. _Hab._ Nearctic and Palæarctic Realms.

Tarsi of adult pale umber; of young, dirty whitish. _Hab._ Palæarctic Realm …

var. _chrysaëtus_.[92]

Tarsi of adult deep umber; of young light brown. _Hab._ Nearctic Realm …

var. _canadensis_.

Aquila chrysaëtus, var. canadensis (LINN.).

GOLDEN EAGLE; RING-TAILED EAGLE.

_Aquila chrysaëtus_ (not of LINN.!), RICH. & SW. F. B. A. II, 1831, 12.—JARD. (WILS.) Am. Orn. II, 1832, 304.—BONAP. List, 1838, 2.—AUD. Synop. 1839, 9.—DE KAY, Zoöl. N. Y. II, 4, pl. vi, f. 14 (_Juv._).—CASS. B. Cal. & Tex. 109.—STRICKL. Orn. Syn. I, 55 (in part).—BREWER, Oölogy, 1857, 45.—COUES, Key, 1872, 219. _Falco chrysaëtus_, (LINN.) MAX. Cab. J. 1858, VI, 9.—BLAS. Ber. XVI, Vers. Deutsch. Orn. 1862, 83 (“absolutely identical with European”). _Falco canadensis_, LINN. S. N. (ed. 10), 1766, 88. _Aquila canadensis_, WILS. Am. Orn. 1808, pl. lv, f. 1.—HEERM. P. R. R. Rept. II, 1855, 30.—CASS. Birds N. Am. 1858, 41.—COUES, P. A. N. S. 1866, 13.—GRAY, Hand List, I, 40. _Falco niger_, GMEL. S. N. 359. _Aquila nobilis_, PALL. Zoög. Ros. As. 1811. _Aquila fulva_ (not of LINN.!), NUTT. Man. Orn. 1833, 62.—PEAB. B. Mass. 1841, 71.

SP. CHAR. _Adult male_ (24,167, Fort Crook, North California, Dec. 25; D. F. Parkinson). General plumage fuliginous-black, this deepest on the head, throat, lower surface in general, under surface of the wings, back, scapulars, shoulders, secondaries, primaries, and rump; middle and secondary wing-coverts, upper and under tail-coverts, tarsi and inside of tibiæ, considerably paler, inclining to light umber. Lanceolate feathers of occiput and nape with the exposed portions light fulvous, the shafts black; dusky beneath the surface. Tail black, somewhat paler on basal half, and with about three irregular, obsolete zigzag bands of pale brown (on two middle feathers ashy); no concealed white on breast. Fifth quill longest; third and fourth intermediate between fifth and sixth; second considerably shorter than sixth; first intermediate between eighth and ninth. Length, 31.60; extent, 78.30. Wing, 24.50; tail, 13.40; culmen, 1.60; from base of cere, 2.15; tarsus, 3.85; middle toe, 2.40; hind claw (chord) 1.90.

_Adult female_ (12,006, Washington, D. C., March 7, 1869; C. Drexler). Almost exactly like the male. Black covering forehead, ear-coverts, cheeks, chin, throat, foreneck, and under parts generally (except the tarsi, inside and front of tibiæ, and lower tail-coverts, which are light fulvous, the tarsi palest), more tawny than in the male. The lanceolate, pale, tawny feathers, which in the male cover only the occiput and neck, in the female extend forward over the top of the head, leaving the forehead only blackish. Upper parts and tail as in the male. Fourth quill longest; third slightly shorter than fifth; second intermediate between sixth and seventh; first intermediate between eighth and ninth. Wing, 26.00; tail, 14.25; culmen, 1.70; tarsus, 3.80; middle toe, 2.70; hind claw, 2.15; inner toe, 1.90; outer, 2.00; inner claw, 1.80; middle, 1.35; outer, 1.10.

_Young male_ (49,684, Camp Grant, near Tucson, Arizona, July 10, 1867; Dr. E. Palmer). Continuous deep sepia-black, with a purplish lustre; breast and scapulars with large concealed spots of pure white; lanceolate feathers of the “mane” dull brown, not conspicuously different from the throat; under surface of primaries showing much white basally, this most extended on inner feathers. Upper and under tail-coverts more brownish than the rump, the basal portion white. Basal half or more of tail white (more ashy on outer feathers), distinctly defined against the broad, pure black, terminal zone; tarsi dull white, clouded with dilute brownish; inside of tibiæ with feathers tipped with white.

_Young female_ (older?) (9,121, Washington, D. C., Dec., 1856; B. Cross). Similar, but black more brown; “mane” as in adult; tarsi dull whitish brown; tail-coverts deep umber-brown; tail as in young male, but terminal band narrower, the white occupying nearly the basal two thirds. Wing, 25.70; tail, 14.75; culmen, 1.65; middle toe, 2.80; hind claw, 2.20.

HAB. Whole of North America north of Mexico; most common in mountainous regions.

LIST OF SPECIMENS EXAMINED.

National Museum, 8; Philadelphia Academy, 2; Boston Society, 2; Cambridge Museum, 2; Coll. R. Ridgway, 2. Total, 16.

_Measurements._

+----+-----------+-----------+---------+---------+-----------+----------+ |Sex.| Wing. | Tail. | Culmen. | Tarsus. |Middle Toe.|Specimens.| +----+-----------+-----------+---------+---------+-----------+----------+ | ♂ |23.00–24.50|14.00–15.00|1.50–1.62|3.65–3.80| 2.40–2.80| 5 | +----+-----------+-----------+---------+---------+-----------+----------+ | ♀ |25.00–27.00|15.00–16.00|1.68–1.85|4.15–4.20| 2.55–2.80| 7 | +----+-----------+-----------+---------+---------+-----------+----------+

A young male from Massachusetts (No. 39, Lexington; Dr. S. Kneeland), in the collection of the Boston Society of Natural History, has the tail plain black, the extreme base and tip white.

Though the Golden Eagles of North America can be distinguished by the characters given in the diagnosis on p. 312 from those of Europe, the differences are appreciable only on direct comparison. The American bird is darker in all its shades of color, the difference being most marked in the young plumage, which in var. _chrysaëtus_ has the tarsal features nearly white, and in var. _canadensis_ light brown, the brown of other portions being also considerably darker. The American bird appears to be rather the larger.

HABITS. The Ring-tailed or Golden Eagle of North America is found throughout the continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from New Mexico to the higher Arctic regions.

In its geographical distribution, the Golden Eagle of North America appears to be chiefly confined to the mountainous regions, and the more northern portions, but to be nowhere abundant. Sir John Richardson saw but few individuals in the Arctic regions, nor does he appear ever to have met with its nest. Individual birds on the Atlantic coast have been occasionally obtained,—once as far south as Philadelphia, twice at Washington,—but very rarely. Several specimens appear to have been obtained among the mountains of New Mexico by Dr. Henry’s party.

Although not mentioned by either Dr. Heermann or Dr. Gambel in their lists of the birds of California, it was found in Oregon by Dr. Townsend, and is said by Dr. Cooper to be quite common in almost all parts of California during the colder months. It is, however, much less numerous than the White-headed Eagle. It is very much more a mountain bird, and its descent into the plains or to the sea-coast is said to be quite rare. Dr. Adolphus Heermann, in his Report of the survey between Fort Yuma and San Francisco, speaks of seeing one of these birds near Livermore Pass, and of meeting others in Northern California, and of an individual killed in the mountains near Mokelumne River. He regarded it, both in that state and elsewhere, as a rare and wild bird. It is not mentioned as occurring in Greenland. It was found breeding in Napa Valley, Cal., by Mr. F. Gruber.

A bird was secured alive in Brighton, near Boston, in 1837, by being taken in a trap which had been set for another purpose. Its occurrence, however, near the sea-coast, is very rare, and even among the mountains it is never found except in occasional pairs. It breeds in the mountainous portions of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York, and was formerly not unfrequent among the cliffs of the Hudson River. Steamboats and railroads have, however, driven this wild bird from its romantic retreats in that quarter. In Franconia, N. H., for quite a number of years, a pair occupied a nest on an inaccessible rock, near the top of a mountain, known as Eagle Cliff, in sight of, and opposite, the Profile House. Repeated efforts have been made to reach its nest, but thus far without success. In the summer of 1855 a renewed attempt was made to scale the precipice over which the shelving rock, on which the nest stands, projects. A party was formed, and although they succeeded in ascending the mountain, which had never been achieved before, they could reach only a point beyond and above, not the nest itself. The attempt to pass to it was abandoned as too perilous. The party reported a large collection of bones in its immediate vicinity, with other evidences of the accumulated plunder of many years, as well as a plentiful supply of fresh food at the time visited.

Without here seeking to affect the question of identity of species, it is interesting to note certain peculiarities in the European Golden Eagle so far not noticed or of rare occurrence in the American birds. Mr. I. W. P. Orde in the Ibis of 1861 (p. 112), gives a very interesting account of a pair of Golden Eagles, which the previous season built their nest in a large Scotch fir-tree, in a wood on the southern bank of Glen Lyon, in Perthshire, within a few hundred yards of Meggerine Castle. Four eggs were laid, two of which were hatched. The nest was one of the Eagles’ own construction, and is specially interesting from being in such near proximity to human habitations. Mr. Tristram (Ibis, 1859, p. 283, in his valuable note on the birds of North Africa), while he never observed this Eagle in any of the cliffs among the mountain ranges of the desert, found it almost gregarious, so abundant was it among the Dayets. In one wood he saw no less than seven pairs of the Eagles, each pair with a nest. There were, besides, many unoccupied nests, and, indeed, very few terebinths of any size were without a huge platform of sticks on the topmost boughs. The birds were undisturbed, and consequently very fearless. On the other hand Mr. Salvin, in the same volume (p. 180) among the mountains of Eastern Atlas, describes very different manner of life in the same birds. “Whatever rock a pair may choose for their eyrie, there they reign alone in dignified solitude, nor do they allow a single Vulture, Kite, or indeed any other species of rapacious bird, to occupy with their nest a single spot in the same rock, however eligible for the purpose; nor are these other species ever to be seen in the haunts of their exclusive majesties. The whole southern precipice at Djebel Dekma was thus tenanted by a single pair of this Eagle, as also several other rocks that came under our notice. Instances of the Golden Eagle building in trees were by no means of unfrequent occurrence.”

The extreme southern range of the European bird, its gregarious habit, and the frequency of its building in trees, are all peculiarities not observed in the American form. They are not necessarily conclusive, but are at least suggestive.

The Golden Eagle in this country usually constructs its nest on the sides of steep, rocky crags, where its materials are coarsely heaped together on a projecting shelf of rock. These consist of large sticks, loosely arranged, and lined with other softer materials. In rare instances they are said to build on trees, where rocky cliffs are not to be met with. The eggs are usually three in number; sometimes two, or only one. Mr. Audubon describes them as measuring 3.50 inches in length by 2.50 in breadth; the shell thick and smooth, dull white, brushed over with undefined patches of brown, which are most numerous at the larger end. This description is not quite accurate in regard to size. The European egg is presumed to be larger than the American, yet the largest I have ever seen measures but 3.19 inches in length by 2.31 in breadth. An egg of the European bird in the British Museum, and another represented in Hewitson’s British Oölogy, which closely resembled it, were marked over the entire surface with small but distinct blotches of reddish-brown on a white ground. One in my collection, taken in Scotland, is nearly unmarked. A distinctly bluish-white ground is faintly stained with a few very obscure markings of slate and purplish-brown.