Part 38

Mr. MacFarlane furnishes very full and interesting notes and observations on the habits of our _canadensis_, as attentively studied by him in the neighborhood of Anderson River, near the Arctic Ocean. Our limits will only permit us to give a summary of his valuable memoranda. In a large majority of instances the nests were built against the face of a steep bank, some sixty or seventy feet from the ground, and about thirty from the summit. They were very strongly constructed with dry sticks, usually of willow, and formed a platform on the top, in the centre of which the eggs were found on a bed composed of moss, hay, and feathers. These platforms were usually about six by seven feet, and ranged from four to six in height. It is said to be “not very scarce in that quarter,” and to be “a resident, in the summer, of the entire Arctic coast and rivers.” Mention is made of ten nests observed by him, and eggs taken therefrom. In several instances these eggs were white and unspotted, exciting his doubts whether they might belong to the _leucocephalus_.

According to Mr. MacFarlane they feed on ducks, mice, and other small animals, partridges, and the fawn of the reindeer. In confinement they are fierce and nearly untamable, though they readily eat the food that is given them, whether fish or meat. Even when taken young from the nest they evince the same fearless and intractable disposition. In one instance a young female killed its older companion by piercing it with her talons. When first observed, she was standing on and plucking the feathers from the body of the slain bird. This was the second bird this same ferocious, but comparatively tame, Eagle had thus destroyed. When the cage was removed outside, though the weather was very cold, the Eagles did not seem to mind it much, but exercised themselves with jumping off and on their roosting-pole, and seemed very much interested in all that was taking place within the Fort square. They kept their plumage in a cleanly condition, and were generally a very clean bird in all respects. During the fine weather the Eagles were more lively than on other occasions. When feeding they drooped both wings, and, if disturbed, arched their necks and moved their heads in a threatening manner, spreading out their tails like a fan. They grasped the meat or fish in the talons of either leg, and tore it with their beaks. After feeding, they invariably removed any blood or other impurities that may have adhered to the beak by scratching it with their talons or rubbing it against the bars of their cage. Several of these birds, in confinement, especially the female referred to, when their cage was approached, would endeavor to attack Mr. MacFarlane, descending from their sleeping-pole and making a rush at the front bars of the cage, spreading the wings and flapping them with great force, and making active demonstrations with beak and talons. Occasionally they would get out of their cages; then it was no easy matter to get them back again, as, when approached, they would throw themselves on their backs and thrust out their talons in the most formidable manner. They nest as early as the last of April or early in May, as largely developed embryos were found on the 27th of May. When their nests were pillaged they generally deserted them; but in one instance, where the female had been snared upon her nest, and the eggs taken, the same nest was occupied the following season by the male with another mate. The new mate was shot, and proved to be a mature bird. Almost invariably the male birds were too wary to be either shot or taken in a snare. Two of the nests of this bird, pointed out by the Indians, appeared to have been used for several years, and had been known to their discoverers for six or seven years previous. The nests taken were in about latitude 69° 30′.

In one particular case a nest had been discovered two years previously by MacFarlane’s Esquimo interpreter. It had been occupied that season, and a pair of Eagles had been recognized as its inmates. In 1863 the nest was known to have been reoccupied, though he did not visit it. On the 17th of May, 1864, he went to it and found both Eagles engaged in repairing it. The female appeared to act as the builder, and the male as the carrier of the materials, as well as the provider of provisions. The nest was not complete, and contained two half-eaten Ptarmigans, but no eggs. It was built against the face of a steep bank of a small stream, and was of considerable bulk. When first constructed, the nest of this Eagle is comparatively small, but as it is renovated every season, it ultimately becomes large and bulky. A quantity of dry sticks and twigs are laid lengthways over the greater portion of the platform of the previous season, and the spaces between are filled up by smaller twigs, mosses, and hay, and the centre is then covered with the two latter ingredients, intermixed with deer’s hair, etc. This annual addition varies in thickness from three to eighteen inches. In no instance did Mr. MacFarlane find or hear of any accumulation of bones or other _débris_ of food either on or in the neighborhood of the nests. In three instances the nests were constructed in the tops of tall pines. In these cases the sandy nature of the soil did not favor their building on the sides of cliffs.

The “Mountain Eagle,” as this species is called throughout the western regions of the United States, was found by Mr. Ridgway to be a common species throughout the Great Basin along the line of the 40th parallel. It was daily seen soaring about the mountains, and nested on inaccessible cliffs. A pair—the female leading—were observed to give chase to a Sage Hen (_Centrocercus urophasianus_), chasing her on the wing until the fugitive dropped down to the ground from exhaustion, when she was picked up by the foremost of the Eagles, who then flew off together to the summit of the mountain range (the East Humboldt) near by, where they probably had their nest.

An egg of this bird, taken by Mr. R. MacDonald among the mountains west of the Lower Mackenzie River, measures 2.60 inches in length by 2.18 in breadth. The ground-color is of a rich pinkish cream-color, boldly dashed with large blotches of three or four varying shades of umber-brown, intermingled with a few finer markings of a lighter shade of brown, and a few clouded markings of a purplish-slate. These markings are grouped and confluent about the smaller end. Other specimens vary to whitish, with faint obsolete blotches.

GENUS HALIAËTUS, SAVIGNY.

_Haliaëtus_, SAVIG. 1809. (Type, _Falco albicilla_, LINN.) _Thalassoaëtus_, KAUP, 1844. (Type, _Falco pelagicus_, PALLAS.) _Cuncuma_, HODGSON, 1837. (Type, _Falco macei_, TEMM.) _Pontoaëtus_, KAUP, 1844. (Same type.) _Blagrus_, BLAS. 1849. (Same type.) _Polioaëtus_, KAUP, 1847. (Type, _Falco icthyaëtus_, HORSF.) _Icthyiaëtus_, LAFR. 1839 (nec KAUP, 1829). (Same type.)

GEN. CHAR. Form robust, and organization powerful, as in _Aquila_; size large. Bill very large, usually somewhat inflated, the chord of the arch of the culmen more than twice the length of the cere on top; commissure with a more or less distinct festoon and sinuation behind it. Nostril oval, obliquely vertical. Feet robust and strong, the tarsus less than one and a half times the middle toe; tarsus feathered in front and on the sides for about one half its length; front of the tarsus and top of the toes with an imperfectly continuous series of transverse scutellæ, entirely interrupted in the region of the digito-tarsal joint; the other portions covered with roundish, somewhat granular, scales, these larger on the posterior face. Claws large, strongly curved, and more obtuse, and less graduated in size, than in _Aquila_. No trace of a web between outer and middle toes. Wing very large, the primaries well developed and strong; third to fifth quill longest; first longer than the ninth; outer five to six with inner webs deeply emarginated. Tail variable in length and shape, usually short and rounded, cuneate and with fourteen feathers in _H. pelagicus_, and nearly even, and with twelve feathers, in _H. macei_, the rest all having twelve feathers, varying in form with the species. Feathers of the neck, all round, lanceolate.

The species of this very strongly marked genus vary between great extremes in the details of their external structure; but these variations I consider to be mainly specific, though two well-defined subgeneric divisions should be made, one to include the Old World _H. leucogaster_, _H. vocifer_, and _H. icthyætus_, which have five, instead of six, outer quills, with their inner webs cut, and the tarsus with the frontal and posterior rows of broad transverse scutellæ nearly as well developed and continuous as in _Buteo_. The last of these species has the claws nearly uniform in size, and contracted and rounded underneath almost as much as in _Pandion_; but the other species are less so, each differing in this respect, so that I consider this as only indicating the greatest perfection in the specialization of the piscatorial type of modified structure. In the possession of fourteen tail-feathers, its very large bill, naked lores, and general aspect, the _H. pelagicus_ shows an approach to the Old World Vultures.

About nine species are known, of which only two belong to North America, one of them (_H. leucocephalus_) being peculiar to that continent. Tropical America is without a single representation of the genus. The majority of the species belong to the Indian region, only the _H. albicilla_ and _H. pelagicus_ belonging to the Palæarctic Realm, the former representing the western, and the latter peculiar to the eastern, district of that zoögeographical division; it is the former which straggles into the Nearctic fauna. The habits of the Sea Eagles differ considerably from those of the true Eagles (_Aquila_) in very important respects; they frequent the shores of the sea, lakes, or large rivers, instead of mountainous portions, and feed chiefly—some of the species entirely—on fish. Those of the subgenus _Polioaëtus_ are almost precisely like _Pandion_ in their habits.

The three closely allied species belonging to the northern portions of the Northern Hemisphere may be distinguished by the characters given in the following synopsis.

Species and Races.

COMMON CHARACTERS. _Adult._ Bill, cere, and iris yellow. Tail, and sometimes the head and neck, white. _Young._ Bill and cere black; iris dark brown. Tail, head, and neck, blackish.

=A.= Tail of fourteen feathers, cuneate, or graduated, for nearly half its length. Nostril with its lower end acute, bevelled gradually to the level of the cere; upper outline of the cere very convex; lore naked.

1. =H. pelagicus.=[93] Wing, 24.50–26.00; tail, 13.50–16.00; culmen, 2.60; depth of bill, 1.80; cere, on top, 1.10; tarsus, 3.50; middle toe, 2.95. _Adult._ Forehead, greater wing-coverts, abdomen, and tail, white; other portions blackish-brown (AUCT.). _Young._ Dark umber or blackish-brown, the feathers of the head and neck with lighter shaft-streaks; tertials (except at ends) and basal third, or more, of inner webs of tail-feathers, white; tail-coverts much mixed with the same. _Hab._ Northeastern Asia.

=B.= Tail of twelve feathers, only slightly rounded. Lower end of the nostril rounded, opening more abruptly inward; upper outline of the cere nearly straight; lores scantily feathered.

2. =H. albicilla.= Wing, 23.00–28.00; tail, 11.50–16.00; culmen, 2.05–2.20; tarsus, 3.30–3.80; middle toe, 2.50–2.95; depth of bill about 1.45; cere, on top, .85. _Adult._ Head and neck pale grayish-fulvous, or dirty yellowish-gray, not abruptly lighter than the body. Tail, only, pure white. Rest of the plumage, including the tail-coverts, dark grayish-brown, inclining to blackish on the primaries. _Young._ Prevailing tint of the upper parts light isabella-color, or pale grayish-cinnamon, each feather having a terminal triangular spot of blackish-brown. Breast soiled white, with broad stripes of brownish-black; rest of the lower parts nearly uniform fulvous-brown, the tibiæ darker. _Hab._ Europe; Egypt; Greenland.

3. =H. leucocephalus.= Wing, 20.00–26.00; tail, 10.50–15.50; culmen, 1.85–2.20; tarsus, 2.65–3.70; middle toe, 2.35–3.10; depth of bill about 1.30; cere, on the top, .80. _Adult._ Head and neck, tail and tail-coverts, pure white, immaculate (except in transition dress). Rest of the plumage brownish-black. _Young._ Brownish-black, showing much concealed white at the bases of the feathers; ground-color inclining to umber-brown on the upper surface; on the lower parts, the basal white much exposed and predominating, the blackish forming longitudinal, tear-shaped spots. Head and neck brownish-black, the penicillated feathers of the nape seldom with whitish points. Tail-feathers and primaries black, the inner webs usually more or less marked, longitudinally, with buffy-whitish. _Hab._ The whole of North America.

SP. CHAR. _Young female_(?) (28,100, Amoor River; Mr. Burlingame). Form: very similar to _H. albicilla_ and _H. leucocephala_, but bill altogether more robust, and feet rather less so, than in these. Tail, of fourteen feathers! graduated for about one half its length. Dimensions: About the size of the female of the two other species. Color: Generally dusky vandyke-brown, a medial line on the lanceolate feathers of the neck, and the border of the squamate ones of the tibiæ, decidedly lighter. Entire plumage white at the base, this exposed wherever the feathers are disarranged, and prevailing on the crissum. Tertials, basal half of inner webs of primaries, the whole tail, and upper tail-coverts, white with a yellowish tinge. Tertials, upper tail-coverts, and tail-feathers, with a large terminal spot of clear grayish-black; on the tail these form a rather irregular terminal zone, being on the middle feather narrower, and broken into fine blotches. Bill, cere, lore, and feet, yellow; end of upper mandible, and the claws, black. Wing-formula, 3, 4, 2, 5–6–7=1. Wing, 24.50; tail, 13.50; culmen, 2.60; depth of bill, 1.80; cere, on top, 1.10; tarsus, 3.50; middle toe, 2.95.

Haliaetus albicilla (LINN.).

GRAY SEA-EAGLE.

_Aquila albicilla_, BRISS. Orn. I, 427, 1760.—PALL. Zoog. Ross. As. I, 345, 1811.—BENICK. Isis, 1824, pp. 878, 892.—SWAINS. Classif. B. II, 207, 1837.—KUHL. Beiträg. Zool. pt. i, p. 76 (anat.), 1820.—TYZENHAUZ, Rev. Zoöl. 1848, p. 235.—BAILLY, Orn. Sav. I, 110, 1853.—S. LONGCH. Faun. Belg. p. 53, 1842. _Vultur albicilla_, LINN. Syst. Nat. p. 123, 1766. _Falco albicilla_, PENN. Brit. Zoöl. p. 61, pl. A, 1812; ed. 8vo, 1812, I, 209, pl. xviii.—GMEL. Syst. Nat. p. 253, 1789.—LATH. Ind. Orn. I, 9, 1790; Syn. I, 33, 1781; Supp. I, 11, 1802; Gen. Hist. I, 46 A, 1821.—ODMANN, Nov. Act. Soc. Ups, IV, 225.—SHAW, Zoöl. VII, 79, 1812.—TEMM. Man. Orn. pt. i, 49; pt. iii, 26, 1820; Tab. Méth. p. 3, 1836.—KITTL. Kupf. Vög. pl. ii, f. 2, 1832.—BRUNN. Orn. Bor. p. 3, 1764.—FABER, Prod. Island, Orn. p. 1, 1822.—NAUM. Nat. Vög. Deutschl. ed. nov. I, 224, pls. xii, xiii, xiv, 1822; Nachtr. p. 330, pl. ix, f. 17.—FRISCH, Vög. Deutschl. pl. lxix, 70, 1739. _Haliaëtus albicilla_, CUV. Reg. Anim. (ed. 1), I, 315, 1817; (ed. 2), I, 336, 1829.—BENN. Gard. Zoöl. Soc. II, 33, 1831.—WERN. Atl. Ois. Eur. 1826.—LESS. Man. Orn. I, 85, 1828.—VIG. Raffl. Life, p. 648. SELBY, Brit. Orn. I, 18, pl. iii, iii^x, 1833.—GOULD, B. Eur. pl. x, 1837.—BONAP. Eur. & N. Am. B. p. 3, 1838; Cat. Ucc. Eur. p. 19, 1842; Consp. Av. p. 15, 1850; Rev. et Mag. Zoöl. p. 531, 1854.—CASS. B. Calif. & Tex. I, p. 111, 1854.—GRAY, Gen. B. p. 3; ed. 2, p. 4; fol. sp. 1, pl. vii, fig. 8.—BREHM. Vög. Deutschl. I, 14, pl. iii, f. 1, 1831.—CASS. Birds N. Am. 43, 1858.—SCLAT. Pr. Z. S. 1863, 257 (found in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia—this disproven!).—ELLIOT, Birds N. A. I. _Haliaëtus albicilla_, GRAY, Hand List, I, 16, 1869. _Aquila ossifraga_, BRISS. Orn. I, p. 437 (_Juv._), 1760.—KUHL, Beiträg. Zoöl. pt. i, p. 60, pl. iv, figs. 1, 3, 3; pl. v, f. 1. _Falco ossifragus_, LINN. Syst. Nat. p. 124, 1766.—GMEL. Syst. Nat. p. 255, 1789.—LATH. Ind. Orn. p. 12, 1790; Syn. I, 30, 1781; Supp. I, 9, 1802; Gen. Hist. I, 48 (_Juv._), 1821.—DAUD. Tr. Orn. II, 64, 1800.—SHAW, Zoöl. VII, pl. xviii, 1809.—RAFFL. LINN. Tr. VIII, 277 (var.). _Aquila leucocephala_, MEYER, Taschenb. Deutsch. Vögelk. p. 16, 1810. _Falco melanotus_, GMEL. Syst. Nat. p. 254, 1789. _Falco albicaudus_, GMEL. Syst. Nat. p. 258, 1789. _Falco hinularius_, LATH. Ind. Orn. p. 15, 1790; Syn. I, 39, sp. 16, 1781; Gen. Hist. I, 47 B, 1821.—SHAW, Zoöl. VII, 80, 1809. _Falco pygargus_, DAUD. Tr. Orn. II, 62, 1800. _Falco albicilla borealis_, FABER, Isis, 1827, p. 56; Prod. Island, Orn. p. 1, 1822. _Haliætus nisus_, SAVIG. Descr. Egyp. pt. i, 86, 1809.—VIEILL. Faun. Franç. p. 10, pl. v, figs. 1, 2.—DEGL. Mém. Soc. Sc. Lille, 1831, p. 213.—LESS. Tr. Orn. p. 40, pl. viii, fig. 2, 1831.—ROUX, Orn. Prod. I, 16, pl. ix, x, 1825.

SP. CHAR. _Adult male_ (56,034, Europe; Schlüter Collection). Plumage almost continuously umber-brown, becoming black on the primaries; on the head and neck approaching pale grayish-brown. Tail (but not the coverts) white, much mottled with dusky at base; shafts of the quills white. Wing-formula, 3–2=4–5–6, 1. Wing, 23.00; tail, 11.50; culmen, 2.20; depth of bill, 1.45; cere, above, .85; tarsus, 3.30; middle toe, 2.50; outer, 2.00; inner, 1.70; posterior, 1.40. Bill and feet yellow.

_Young._ Head and neck blackish-brown, feathers whitish beneath the surface, the long pencillate feathers of the nape tipped inconspicuously with the same; prevailing color of the upper surface isabella-color (much more reddish than in corresponding age of _leucocephalus_) each feather with a terminal triangular spot of blackish-brown; tertials more whitish. Secondaries rich dark brown; primaries deep black, their shafts dark brown. Tail brownish-black much spotted with isabella-color, or soiled creamy-white, this occupying most of the inner webs. Breast soiled white, each feather with a conspicuous broad medial stripe of brownish-black; abdomen more fulvous; tibiæ nearly uniform dark brown. Rump nearly uniform vinaceous-fulvous. Bill black. Feet yellow.

_Male_ (56,037, North Europe; Schlütter Coll.). Wing, 26.00; tail, 12.50; culmen, 2.20.

_Female_ (56,039, North of Europe; Schlütter Coll.). Wing, 28.00; tail, 16.00; culmen, 2.45; depth of bill, 1.55; cere above, .70; tarsus, 3.65; middle toe, 3.50.

_Hab._ Europe and in Greenland.

LIST OF SPECIMENS EXAMINED.

National Museum, 3; Philadelphia Academy, 3; New York Museum, 2; Boston Society, 2; Cambridge Museum, 1. Total, 11.

_Measurements._

+------+-----------+-----------+---------+---------+---------+----------+ | Sex. | Wing. | Tail. | Culmen. | Tarsus. | Middle |Specimens.| | | | | | | Toe. | | +------+-----------+-----------+---------+---------+---------+----------+ |♂ Ad. |23.00–24.00| 11.50–0.00|2.10–2.20|3.30–3.70|2.50–2.85| 2 | +------+-----------+-----------+---------+---------+---------+----------+ |♂ Juv.|24.75–26.00| 12.50–0.00|2.05–2.20|3.80–0.00|2.70–0.00| 2 | +------+-----------+-----------+---------+---------+---------+----------+ |♀ Juv.|27.80–28.00|14.00–16.00|2.20–2.45|3.50–3.65|2.95–3.50| 2 | +------+-----------+-----------+---------+---------+---------+----------+

HABITS. The White-tailed or Gray Sea Eagle is common to the sea-coast of Europe, where it inhabits only the parts of the country adjacent to the sea, and rears its young on the cliffs. It occurs in Greenland, and is on that ground included in the fauna of North America. It has not yet been traced south of Greenland, nor has it been found in any part of our continent.

The Sea Eagle in Europe is rarely found inland. It builds its nest on rocky cliffs projecting over the water, on the shores of Scotland, the Orkney and Shetland Islands, Norway, Russia, etc. The nest is constructed of sticks, or, where these are not convenient, of seaweed. The eggs are two or three in number. Their ground-color is a clear white, usually unmarked, but occasionally stained with small, faint spots of light brown. The measurements of two in my collection, both from Scotland, but obtained at different times by H. F. Walter, Esq., of London, are as follows: Length 2.69 inches, breadth 2.19 inches; length 2.13 inches, breadth 2.25 inches.

The following, in relation to their breeding and distribution, is taken from Mr. Yarrell’s excellent work on the Birds of Great Britain:—

“The White-tailed Eagle builds its nest on high rocks, and lays two eggs, about the same size of those of the Golden Eagle, but with very little or no red color on the white ground. The young are at first covered with a soiled white down, and even at this age the beaks and claws of the eaglets are of very large size. A pair of Golden Eagles have been known to rear their young in the same spot for eight seasons in succession; and Mr. Mudie has mentioned that, being thus attached to a particular locality, their young, when able to provide for themselves, are driven away by the parent birds to get their living elsewhere; but the more erratic White-tailed Eagles, quitting the breeding station when the season is ended, leave their young to forage over the district in which they have been raised. In confinement, the White-tailed Eagle sometimes becomes sociable.... One kept by Mr. Hoy laid three eggs in the same season; and a female in the possession of Mr. Selby laid an egg after having been kept in confinement twenty years.... The White-tailed Eagle breeds in the Hebrides, in Orkney and Shetland. Mr. Dunn, in his useful Guide to these latter islands, names the particular localities in which they may be found, but states that they are much more numerous in winter than in summer. This accords with the opinion of Mr. Temminck and others that this species returns to the southward from high northern latitudes as the season advances.... This Eagle frequents Denmark, Sweden, the west coast of Norway, and from thence as far north as Iceland and Greenland, but is not found in North America. Mr. Temminck believes that this Eagle follows the flocks of geese that annually resort to the Arctic regions in summer to rear their young. It is found in Siberia, at Lake Baikal, and inhabits Russia, from whence to the southward it is spread over the European continent generally.”

Haliaëtus leucocephalus (LINN.).

BALD EAGLE; AMERICAN EAGLE.