Part 39

_Aquila leucocephala_, BRISS. Orn. I, 422, 1760.—VIEILL. Ois. Am. Sept. pl. iii, 1807.—PALLAS, Zoog. Ross. As. I, 347, 1811.—SWAINSON, Classif. B. II, 207, 1837; Anim. Menag. 106, 1838.—S. LONGCH. Faun. Belg. 53, 1842. _Falco leucocephalus_, LINN. Syst. Nat. 124, 1766.—GMEL. Syst. Nat. 255, 1789.—LATH. Ind. Orn. 11, 1790; Syn. I, 29, 1781; Supp. p. 9, 1802; Gen. Hist. I, 45, 1821.—PENN. Arct. Zoöl. pp. 194 and 196, 1785.—WILS. Am. Orn. pl. xxxvi, 1808.—TEMM. Man. Orn. pt. i, 52; pt. ii, 27, 1820; Tab. Méth. 3, 1836.—SHAW, Zoöl. VII, 78, 1809.—BONAP. Ann. Lyc. N. Y. II, 26.—GREEN, Silliman’s Am. Journ. IV, 89; Isis, 1832, p. 1136.—AUD. Orn. Biog. I, 160, 1831; Birds Am. pl. xxxi, 1831.—BREWER, (WILS.) Am. Orn. Synop. 683, 1852. _Haliaëtus leucocephalus_, SAVIG.—CUV. Règ. An. (ed. 2), I, 326.—LESS. Tr. Orn. p. 40, 1831.—STEPH. Zoöl. XIII, pt. 2, p. 13, 1826.—JAMES. (WILS.) Am. Orn. I, 21, 33, 1808.—JARD. (WILS.) Orn. II, 89, 307.—RICH. F. B. A. II, 15, 1831.—BENNETT, Gard. Zoöl. Soc. II, 37, 1831.—BONAP. Eur. & N. Am. B. 3, 1838; Cat. Ucc. Eur. 19, 1842; Consp. Av. 15, 1850; Rev. et Mag. Zoöl. 1854, p. 531.—MAX. Cab. Journ. VI, 1858, 3.—BLAKISTON, Ibis, III, 1861, 320.—DRESSER, Ibis, 1865, 328 (Texas, breeding).—GOULD, B. Eur. pl. xi, 1837.—GRAY, Gen. B. fol. sp. 3, 1844; List Birds Brit. Mus. 2, 1844.—AUD. Synopsis Birds Am. 10, 1839.—NUTTALL, Man. Orn. U. S. & Canad. 72, 1833.—PEALE, U. S. Expl. Exp. 71, 1848.—PEAB. Birds Mass. 73, 1841.—GIRAUD, Birds Long Island, 9, 1844.—WOODH. Sit. Expl. Zuñ. & Colorad. 59, 1853.—CASSIN, B. Calif. & Tex. I, 111, 1854.—DE KAY, Zoöl. N. Y. II, 5, pl. i, f. 1, 1844.—HEERM. P. R. R. Rept. VII, 30, 1857.—NEWB. P. R. R. Rept. VI, 75, 1857.—WERN. Atl. Ois. Eur. 1826.—BREHM, Vögel Deutschl. 17, 1831.—CASS. Birds N. Am. 1858, 43.—COOP. & SUCK. P. R. R. Rept. XII, ii, 151, 1860.—COUES, Prod. B. Ariz. 13, 1866. _Haliaëtus leucocephalus_, GRAY, Hand List, I, 16 (1869). _Falco candidus_, GMEL. Syst. Nat. 258, 1789.—LATH. Ind. Orn. 14, 1790; Syn. I, 36, 1781; Gen. Hist. I, 240, 1821.—DAUD. Tr. Orn. II, 51, 1800.—VIEILL. Ois. Am. Sept. I, 30, 1807. _Falco pygargus_, DAUD. Tr. Orn. II, 62, 1800. _Falco ossifragus_, WILS. Am. Orn. pl. lv, f. 2 (_Juv._), 1808. _Falco leucogaster_, LATH. Gen. Hist. I, 242, 1821. _Vultur albicilla_, FABER, Faun. Grœnl. 53, 1780. _Falco washingtoni_, AUD. Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 1, I, 1828, 115.—IB. Orn. Biog. I, 58; Birds Am. pl. xi.—BREWER, (WILS.) Am. Orn. 683.—JAMES. (WILS.) Am. Orn. IV, 261. _Haliaëtus washingtoni_, JARD. (WILS.) Am. Orn. II, 92.—BONAP. List, 1838, 3.—GRAY, Gen. fol. sp. 4.—AUD. Synop. Birds Am. 10.—CASS. B. CAL. & Tex. 110.—IB. Birds N. Am. 1858, 42.—STRICKL. Orn. Syn. I, 51, No. 82. _Falco washingtonianus_, NUTT. MAN. pl. lxvii. _Haliaëtus leucocephalus_, BREWER, Oölogy, 1851, 48, pl. iv, f. 37.

SP. CHAR. _Adult._ Entire head and neck, upper and lower tail-coverts, and tail, immaculate pure white. Rest of the plumage brownish-black, the feathers fading toward the edges, these paler borders being most conspicuous on the upper surface. Primaries uniform deep black. Bill, cere, superciliary shield, and feet, deep chrome-yellow; iris Naples-yellow. _Male_ (12,017, Philadelphia; C. Drexler). Wing, 22.00; tail, 10.50; culmen, 1.90; top of cere, .80; depth of bill, 1.30; tarsus, 3.00; middle toe, 2.60; outer, 2.00; inner, 1.50; posterior, 1.30. Wing-formula, 3=4–5, 2–6; 1=7. _Female_ (11,986, Philadelphia; C. Drexler). Wing, 25.00; tail, 12.75; culmen, 2.20; top of cere, .80; tarsus, 3.10; middle toe, 2.85. Wing-formula, 3=4, 5–2–6–7–1, 8. _Young._ Second year (?) (No. 58,977, Mount Carmel, Wabash County, Illinois, Dec.; D. Ridgway). Head and neck brownish-black, white beneath the surface, the penicillate ones of the nape tipped with pale brown. Prevailing color of other portions blackish-brown, inclining to umber on the dorsal region, wing-coverts, and lower parts; all the feathers white at their roots, this much exposed on the lower parts, where the brown forms tear-shaped terminal spots; axillars and lining of the wing white, each feather of the latter region with a medial lanceolate stripe of blackish-brown. Primaries and tail brownish-black; inner webs of secondaries and tail-feathers spattered longitudinally with creamy-white. Bill and cere black; iris brown; feet yellow. Wing, 25.50; tail, 15.00; culmen, 2.10; tarsus, 3.10; middle toe, 2.60.

_Young_, _first year_ (No. 41,595, Eastern United States?). Whole plumage nearly uniformly black, this very continuous above; beneath, the basal white is much exposed, producing a somewhat spotted appearance. Primaries and tail deep black, the inner webs of the latter sprinkled with cream-color.

_Young in down_ (Washington, D. C.). Downy covering uniform deep sooty-gray; the sprouting feathers on wings, etc., all brownish-black.

Specimens from the Pacific Coast have the plumage rather deeper black; but scarcely any other differences are appreciable. Measurements of specimens are as follows:—

“_Male_” (?) (45,838, Sitka; Bischoff). Wing, 24.50; tail, 12.50; culmen, 2.00.

_Female_ (45,835, Sitka; Bischoff). Wing, 25.00; tail, 12.50; culmen, 2.20.

Of these, the male is continuous deep black, the head, neck, tail, and tail-coverts pure white in sharp contrast; the female is less continuously black,—more so, however, than in eastern specimens; the white portions are as pure as in the male.

An immature bird (9,130, Shoalwater Bay, W. T., Feb.; Dr. Cooper) is almost like the Illinois specimen described, but is somewhat larger, measuring, wing, 26.00; tail, 15.00; culmen, 2.20. It differs somewhat in plumage also, the lower parts being nearly uniformly light isabella-color, not variegated by the black spots; the whole wing (except the quills) is pale isabella-brown, the wing-coverts with terminal triangular spots of black; the back is also light-colored, like the wings.

_Hab._ Entire continent of North America, north of Mexico.

Localities quoted: Upper Texas; breeds (DRESSER, Ibis, 1865, 65). Western Arizona (COUES, P. A. N. S., 1866, 49).

LIST OF SPECIMENS EXAMINED.

National Museum, 17; Philadelphia Academy, 14; Boston Society, 3; Museum Comparative Zoölogy, 3; Coll. R. Ridgway, 2; Coll. J. C. Sharp, Jr., 1; W. S. Brewer, 1. Total, 41.

_Measurements._

+------+-----------+-----------+---------+---------+---------+----------+ | Sex. | Wing. | Tail. | Culmen. | Tarsus. | Middle |Specimens.| | | | | | | Toe. | | +------+-----------+-----------+---------+---------+---------+----------+ |♂ Ad. |20.00–23.00|11.00–13.00|1.85–2.00|2.65–3.40|2.35–2.65| 10 | +------+-----------+-----------+---------+---------+---------+----------+ |♂ Juv.|23.50–25.00|12.00–15.25|1.95–2.20|3.20–3.30|2.70–2.90| 5 | +------+-----------+-----------+---------+---------+---------+----------+ |♀ Ad. |23.50–25.00|12.50–13.50|1.90–2.20|3.40–3.60|2.55–2.80| 7 | +------+-----------+-----------+---------+---------+---------+----------+ |♀ Juv.|25.50–26.00|15.00–15.50|2.10–2.20|3.25–3.70|2.55–3.10| 2 | +------+-----------+-----------+---------+---------+---------+----------+

The “Bird of Washington” of Audubon was, without the least doubt, a very large immature female, in about the second year: the discrepancies between Audubon’s figure and description, and the real characters of the young Bald Eagle, are very probably the result of carelessness and faulty memory; the stretch of wing of “10 feet 2 inches” is, no doubt, an exaggeration; and the peculiar scutellation of the tarsus, as exhibited in his plate, was as certainly caused by this portion of the figure being worked up from memory. The probability is also that the description was made up, or at least very much added to, from this plate, as there is no record of Mr. Audubon’s specimens having been preserved. It is by no means strange that persons should consider these large grayish Eagles a different species from the smaller white-headed ones, since their proportions are as different as their colors; and throughout the country, unscientific people, and among them experienced hunters, distinguish the three stages described above as the “bald,” “big gray,” and “black” Eagles. Nothing is more certain, however, than that all are only different stages of one and the same bird.

In the preceding table of measurements the old and immature specimens are given separately, in order to prove the remarkable fact that the latter have longer wings and tails than the former. This feature is not confined to the present bird, however, but applies as a general rule to all _Falconidæ_.

HABITS. The White-headed Eagle is widely diffused throughout the North American continent, from about latitude 58° north to the Gulf of Mexico and Central America.

Sir John Richardson, in _Fauna Boreali-Americana_ (Vol. II, p. 15), states that he did not meet with this species north of 62°, although he found it common between that point and Lake Superior. He also states that they leave the fur-countries in October, when the rivers are frozen. Subsequently, in his expedition overland to the Arctic Seas, in 1848, he found occasion to change his first impressions quite materially. He gives it as abundant at Half-Moon Lake, in latitude 56° north. He also speaks of finding both the Osprey and White-headed Eagle building their nests on the banks of Bear Lake River, in about 60° north. We find in his notes, that White-headed Eagles made their appearance at Fort Confidence, latitude 66° 54′, as early as May 17, before the ice had given way in the rivers; and in his tables of phenomena observed at the Cumberland House, in latitude 54°, we also observe that a White-headed Eagle was seen as early as the 24th of March, “being almost always the first of the summer birds which arrives.”

Mr. MacFarlane found these Eagles breeding on Lockhart River, latitude 67° 30′, but does not regard it as abundant in that locality, and from the information he has received from the Indians, he presumes latitude 68° to be its extreme northern range. In the following year, 1862, this supposition was in part confirmed by his finding a pair breeding on the same river, near its junction with the Anderson, in latitude 68° north. Mr. B. E. Ross states that it ranges to the Arctic Circle, and is numerous around Great Slave and Bear Lakes. It proved to very common at Sitka, where Bischoff obtained a number of specimens.

Dr. Cooper, during his journey northward to the 49th degree, found this one of the most abundant birds of the Falcon tribe in Washington Territory, particularly along the Columbia River. It is a constant resident in the Territory, and is said to lay its eggs as early as February. He saw large numbers along the Columbia, sitting on some log or cliff over the water. He never met with it about high mountain tops nor on the plains east of the Rocky Mountains.

Dr. Newberry met with this Eagle in the interior of Northern California, along the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers. He found it very common at the Cascades of the Columbia, at the Falls of the Willamette, and still more abundant about the chain of lakes in the Klamath basin, and also in the Cascade Range, among the mountain lakes, and wherever fish was attainable. They exhibited little shyness, and were easily brought within rifle range.

In Florida, Mr. Allen found this bird very common, breeding as early as January. It was very abundant on the upper St. John’s, and especially so at Lake Monroe. It is also equally common in Texas, according to Dresser, especially near the headwaters of some of the rivers. He was told by his guide, Westfall, that in passing a distance of forty miles he had noticed eight nests. It also breeds on the Altacosa. Dr. Woodhouse found these birds, but nowhere very abundant, from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific, along his entire route, and Dr. Coues observed them near Fort Whipple.

The statements of Temminck that this Eagle has been taken accidentally in Central Europe, Switzerland, and Germany, and also that it breeds in Northwestern Europe, are not now credited; and more recent scrutiny of these supposed facts cast discredit upon them, and show that there is no well-authenticated instance of its having been detected in Europe.

The White-headed Eagle appears to be equally well adapted by nature for the endurance of heat or cold, and is apparently indifferent to either. Its residence is influenced only by its abundance of food, especially that of fish; and it seems to matter very little whether that plenty is procurable within the Arctic Circle or on the coast and rivers of Florida and Texas. In places like the Falls of Niagara, where the stream is ever liable to contribute the remains of animals destroyed by the descent of the torrent, this Eagle is especially abundant. Unscrupulous, greedy, voracious, not select in its choice of food, and capable of providing for itself when necessity compels, we find this not altogether unsuitable emblem of our country now enacting the tyrant and robber and plundering the Fishhawk of the fruits of its industry, now sharing with the Raven and the Vulture the dead salmon of the Columbia, and in other places diving for and catching its own fish. The impetuosity and skill with which it pursues, overtakes, and robs the Fishhawk, bearing off a fish it has just taken, must be witnessed to be appreciated; and the swiftness with which the Eagle can dart down upon and seize the booty, which the Hawk has been compelled to let fall, before it reaches the water, is not the least wonderful feature of this striking performance. On the banks of the Columbia, where there are no Fishhawks to depend upon, this bird finds an easy subsistence on the vast numbers of dead and dying salmon which abound; and in Florida Mr. Allen has observed it dive and catch its own fish. This is also confirmed by the statements of other naturalists. Wilson also accuses this Eagle of destroying great numbers of young pigs in the Southern States, young lambs, and even sickly sheep; and in one instance it attempted to carry off a child, which was only saved by its dress giving way.

The White-headed Eagle breeds along the Atlantic coast from the St. Lawrence to Florida, and thence westward to Mexico along the coast and among the tributaries of the Gulf. In the interior it breeds as far north as the Arctic Circle.

Richardson states that it abounds in the watery districts of Rupert’s Land, and a nest may be looked for within every twenty or thirty miles. Each pair appropriates a certain range of country, on which they are said to suffer no intruders of their own species to encroach; but the nest of the Osprey is often placed at no great distance from that of the Eagle. Some of the voyagers had the curiosity to visit an Eagle’s nest, which was built on the cleft summit of a balsam poplar, of sticks, many of them as thick as a man’s wrist. It contained two young birds, well fledged, with a good store of fish in a very odoriferous condition. While the men were climbing the tree, the female parent hovered close around, and threatened an attack on the invaders; but the male kept aloof, making circles high in the air.

In California, where the rocky coast is destitute of convenient trees, the White-headed Eagle resorts to rocky cliffs as the safest and most convenient places for nesting. We have the authority of Richardson for the same deviation from its usual resort to trees in parts of the fur-countries where the latter are wanting. The climate apparently exerts a certain influence, though not so much as might be supposed. In the Southern States it nests seven weeks earlier than in Maine, in both of which regions it is resident throughout the year. Farther north, where the severity of the cold, by closing the ponds and rivers with solid ice, places their food beyond their reach, and where they are only visitants in the warmer season, they, of course, nest still later, for the reason that they do not reach these regions until after the breeding season of more southern birds of the species.

In the extreme Southern States, as in California, the White-headed Eagle breeds as early as February. In Maine, the general impression has been that the eggs are not deposited before May, and at a still later period in the more northern portions of the United States. More recent observations show this to be incorrect, and that these birds breed at a much earlier season of the year. Mr. Audubon speaks of having once shot a female on her eggs, near the Mississippi, as early as the 17th of January. Dr. Gambel found White-headed Eagles nesting on the cliffs along the shores of the Pacific in February and March.

Having occasion to visit the State of Maine in April, 1856, near the Damariscotta River, the banks of which stream are frequented by these birds on account of the abundance of fish, I was informed that a pair had constructed a nest in a neighboring wood, which they had occupied for several successive years. The previous season (1855), late in May, my informant had climbed a tree in the immediate neighborhood, commanding a full view of the nest. It then contained young nearly grown. From this statement I was led to conclude that there was no time to be lost if we would secure the eggs before hatching. We accordingly visited the nest on the 27th of April, and found it situated on a tall pine, at least sixty feet from the ground. The tree stood in a swampy wood, within a few rods of the stage road, and not more than half a mile from the village of Damariscotta. It contained no limbs or branches to facilitate ascent for at least the distance of thirty feet, and the trunk at the base was from six to nine feet in circumference, rendering it impossible to mount the tree by the aid only of the hands and feet. My assistant was, however, drawn up, by means of a rope fastened round his body, to a height where the branches of the tree rendered the remainder of the ascent comparatively easy. While he was ascending, we observed several Eagles flying over our heads, but at a great height. One only approached us; but, as soon as we were noticed, the bird made a precipitate retreat. It was apparently conveying food to the nest, and was not at first aware of our presence; after which it hovered at a distance, uttering hoarse, disagreeable cries of displeasure, not unlike the imperfect barking of a dog. No attempt was made to molest or interrupt the man as he ascended to, or after he had reached, the nest. We found, when he had climbed to the nest, that the female had been sitting upon it all the while, and only left when the unwelcome caller was near enough to have reached her with his hands. She too flew over the man’s head in somewhat close proximity, uttering frequent cries of distress, but made no effort whatever to attack him.

The nest was found to contain no egg, and but a single bird, apparently about a fortnight old. It was some six or seven inches in length, its weight between one and two pounds, and its head and claws disproportionately large. It was covered uniformly with a thick, close, and soft downy plumage, which was of a clean deep straw-color. There was not the least admixture of gray or brown. The young bird was completely helpless, and uttered almost constant cries for food. It ate readily whenever fish or meat was offered it, but was unable to support itself upon its legs. It was taken to my host’s house, where it was well cared for, and for a while, with careful attention, it did well and grew apace, manifesting a most inordinate and insatiable appetite.

The nest was described to me by my assistant as a platform between five and six feet in diameter, and at least four in thickness. It was constructed of regular layers of large sticks, each several feet in length, and from an inch to an inch and a half in thickness. Its surface was perfectly flat, and was “finished off,” to use his expression, with tufts of grass, dry leaves, mosses, lichens, small twigs, etc., etc. He found in it, by the side of the young Eagle, four or five large eels, each of which was about two feet in length, showing that the parent birds provide liberally for their own wants and those of their young.

Estimating the age of the young Eagle at ten days, and allowing four weeks for incubation, and at least one week’s interval between the deposition and the commencement of the parent bird’s sitting upon it, we have very nearly the exact period at which the egg was laid, March 13.

This occurred at the coldest period of the season, when the ground was covered with snow to an unusual depth, and when the thermometer indicated a temperature at that time frequently as low as 15° below zero.

The nest is usually of great size, composed of sticks from three to five feet in length, pieces of turf, weeds, and moss. Its diameter is about five feet, and its depth is not unfrequently as great. In the warmer localities, where it breeds, the pair usually frequent the same nest throughout the year, and make it their permanent place of resort. This is also true, probably, wherever this Eagle remains throughout the year. Mr. T. H. Jackson, of West Chester, Pa., informs me that he met with three fresh eggs of this species in Maryland, on the 11th of February, 1871.

The eggs are usually two, sometimes three or four, in number; they are nearly spherical, equally rounded at either end, and more or less granulated on their surface. Their color is a dull white, unspotted, but often stained by incubation to a dirty white or a light soiled drab. Two eggs in my collection present the following measurements: Length 3 inches, breadth 2.75; length 2.88 inches, breadth 2.80. The first was obtained in New Jersey by Alexander Wilson, the ornithologist; the latter by Dr. Trudeau, in Louisiana.

Another, taken from a nest in Texas by Dr. Heermann, measured 2.80 by 2.20 inches. A fourth, from Sitka, measures 2.75 by 2.25 inches. These measurements, so far as they may be taken as typical, exhibit but little variation in size between the most northern and the most southern specimens.

Several nests were met with and the eggs taken by Mr. MacFarlane near Anderson River. They were generally built in high trees not far from river-banks. In a few instances the parents made hostile demonstrations when their nests were robbed, but generally kept at a safe distance, uttering loud and discordant sounds. The nests were built of dry sticks and decayed branches, and lined with deer’s hair, mosses, hay, and other similar soft materials.

Mr. Dall was informed by the Indians that this species breeds among the Alaskan mountains on inaccessible cliffs. This statement, however, may have had reference to the Golden Eagle.

FAMILY CATHARTIDÆ.—THE AMERICAN VULTURES.

_Cathartidæ_, GRAY, 1842.—HUXLEY, P. Z. S. 1867, p. 463. _Cathartinæ_, LAFR. 1839. _Sarcorhamphidæ_, GRAY, 1848. _Gryphinæ_, REICH. 1850.

The characters of this family have been given in sufficient detail (III, 1), so that a short diagnosis, showing its most readily observable peculiarities, will here be sufficient.

CHAR. Whole head, and sometimes the neck, naked; eyes prominent, and not shaded by a superciliary shield. Cere much elongated, much depressed anteriorly below the very arched culmen; nostrils longitudinal, horizontal, the two confluent or perforate. Middle toe very long, and the hind one much abbreviated. A web between the base of the inner and middle toes.