In the History of the Expedition of Lewis and Clarke it is stated, that “The Calumet Eagle sometimes inhabits this side of the Rocky mountains. The colours are black and white, beautifully variegated. The tail feathers, so highly prized by the natives, are composed of twelve broad feathers of unequal length, which are white except within two inches of their extremities, when they immediately change to a jetty black, the wings have each a large circular white spot in the middle, which is only visible when they are extended.” II. p. 188, Philada., 1814. This statement, though it appears to have been usually regarded as referring to the Golden Eagle, does not apply to any established species, but it is worth bearing in mind that in the number of the feathers of the tail, the bird here alluded to agrees exactly with Audubon’s Washington Eagle, (Orn. Biog. I. p. 63.)
The black-checked Eagle of Pennant, said to be from North America, (Arctic Zoology, I. p. 227,) and which is Falco americanus, Gmelin, is described as being “about the size of the Golden Eagle, but with the head, neck and breast of a deep ash colour, each cheek marked with a broad black bar, passing from the corner of the mouth beyond the ears; back, belly, wings and tail, black.”
One of the most remarkable of these mysterious birds is the White Eagle, represented by Du Pratz as inhabiting Louisiana, of whose description of which the following is a translation: “The Eagle, the king of birds, is smaller than the Eagle of the Alps, but it is much handsomer, being almost entirely white, and having only the extremities of its wings black. As it is rather rare, this is a second reason for rendering it esteemed amongst the people of the country, who buy at a high price the feathers of its wings to make the ornament of the symbol of peace, and which is the fan of which I have spoken in giving a description of the Calumet.” Du Pratz, Histoire de la Louisiane, II. p. 109, Paris, 1758. On the faith of this description, the species supposed to be alluded to has been named Falco candidus by Gmelin. If not an albino, there is a possibility that it is a species of a group of white hawks, of rather large size, which are principally found in South America, and one species of which (Buteo Ghiesbrectü Dubus,) is known to inhabit Mexico. The latter would agree very well with Du Pratz’s description, so far as it goes.
That excellent and reliable naturalist, the Prince Maximilian of Wied, whose Travels in the interior of North America contain much valuable information in nearly all departments of Zoology, mentions a “Grey Eagle of enormous dimensions,” I. pp. 203, 214, (Raise in das innere Nord-America, Quarto, Coblenz, 1839.)[2]
But there is no end to the accounts of strange Eagles given by travellers and naturalists. Some of them may have reference to peculiar species which have in later times escaped attention, but the probability is, that they more frequently allude to accidental varieties, or that the authors describe from such reports as they had heard at second hand, or fell into error from insufficient personal observation.
Several of the naturalists who have recently visited California have informed us that they saw occasionally large species of Eagles, or other large rapacious birds, of which they did not succeed in procuring specimens, nor in approaching within sufficiently short distance to be enabled to examine them satisfactorily.
We have introduced the extraordinary bird which is the subject of our present article, thus early into our work, for the purpose mainly of asking attention to a most remarkable and interesting species heretofore apparently entirely unknown to American Ornithological writers, and also on account of its similarity, in some respects, to one of the most important of Audubon’s discoveries, the Washington Eagle. This celebrated author was not acquainted with the bird now before us.
The specimen of the Washington Eagle, described and figured by Audubon, does not appear to have been preserved, or at any rate is not known to be extant, nor does it appear that he ever procured more than one. His drawing, however, with some others of species which he had met with but once, appears fortunately to have escaped the destruction of his collection of pictures of birds by rats, as described in his Ornithological Biography, Vol. I. Introductory Address, p. 13, (Edinburg edition, 1831.)
We have no doubt that such a species exists, or in other words, that Audubon is entirely correct in regarding his bird as a peculiar species; and we think it quite impossible for his description and history to apply to the young of the common White-headed or Bald Eagle, as has been supposed by some American, and by nearly all late European Ornithologists. But we are disposed, at present, to question the correctness of his plate, and also his statement that the bird represented was an “adult male” (Orn. Biog. I. p. 62). We are aware, of course, that the plate may not be a fair representation of the drawing, and in fact it has not been very carefully engraved. The tail appears to be unfinished. Having, however, quite sufficient knowledge of the difficulties in getting up correct plates of birds, we are enabled fully to appreciate the disadvantages under which this distinguished Ornithologist, with all his artistic knowledge and perseverance, must necessarily have laboured at the commencement of his great work, and his plate of the Washington Eagle is one of the earliest, being the eleventh of the series.
The bill, as represented in the plate, is shorter than we have ever seen in any adult Eagle of this group (the fishing Eagles), and above all the arrangement of the scales on the tarsi anteriorly, is such as we have never observed in any rapacious bird whatever.