Notices of the Washington Eagle having been captured, have appeared occasionally (as in Nuttal’s Manuel, I. p. 71, and the Boston Journal of Nat. Hist. III. p. 72), and we have seen numerous specimens of Eagles of a size so large that they could not, without much doubt, be referred to the common white-headed species. But we have never seen nor heard of a specimen which presented all the peculiar characters represented in Audubon’s plate, and especially the anterior scales of the tarsus continued transversely so far down to the toes. The pointed and slender feathers of the neck, the large size, and in one specimen of a young bird, the short bill we have seen, and there are specimens now in the collection of the Philadelphia Academy in which these characters will be found, but not the peculiar arrangement of the scales of the tarsus. All other species of fishing Eagles have the head more or less marked with white in their mature plumage. In Audubon’s plate of the Washington Eagle, the head is of the same deep brown as the other parts. From analogy, therefore, it may safely be presumed that he was mistaken in supposing his specimen to be that of an adult male bird.
An interesting feature in the large specimens to which we allude, is the fact that they almost invariably have the ends of their tails broken as though injured by alighting habitually on rocks, or on the ground, thus apparently confirming Audubon’s statements. Young birds are however peculiarly liable to such injury on account of their feathers not possessing the strength and rigidity of more mature plumage.
Respecting the Washington Eagle, our conclusion is, therefore, after many years of attention to American birds, and especially to obscure or little known species, that of the existence of such a species in North America as is described by Audubon, in Ornithological Biography, I. p. 58, there can be no reasonable doubt. But we are of opinion that when adult it is very probably a bird with the head more or less white, and tail of the same colour; and we are disposed to regard the plate in Birds of America as erroneous, for reasons above intimated, or for others not at present demonstrable, and at all events as representing a young specimen. Waiving the presence of the character of the scales of the tarsi as above stated, we think that we have several times seen the young of the Washington Eagle, and that specimens of it are now in the collection of the Philadelphia Academy. It is not, however, so large as the immense Eagle which in the present article, and accompanying plate, we have the pleasure of presenting to the American public for the first time, but it appears to us to be more nearly related to it than to any other species.
The Eagle mentioned in the History of the Expedition of Lewis and Clarke, as cited in a preceding page, we are inclined to suspect to be the present species, but should not be surprised if it should be ascertained by succeeding naturalists to be the adult of the Washington Eagle.
The great Eagle now before us has never been observed as yet by an American voyager, and few specimens only are contained in European museums. The only specimen in the United States is that in the collection of the Philadelphia Academy from which the drawing was made for the present plate.
We have added as a suitable conclusion of our present article a translation of the original account of this Eagle as given by Pallas, and which will be found in his Zoology of Asiatic Russia, as cited above:
“Steller, worthy of a better fate, first observed this remarkable species, and in his manuscripts briefly described it. Now, also, I have before me an elegantly prepared specimen from my friend Billings, who, with the last navigator, explored the ocean between Kamschatka and America. This very large bird is frequent in the islands between Kamschatka and the American continent, especially in the islands noted for the unfortunate shipwreck and death of Bering. It appears very rarely in Kamschatka itself. In the highest rocks overhanging the sea, it constructs a nest of two ells in diameter, composed of twigs of fruit and other trees, gathered from a great distance, and strewed with grass in the centre, in which are one or two eggs, in form, magnitude and whiteness, very like those of a Swan. The young is hatched in the beginning of June, and has an entirely white woolly covering. While Steller was cautiously viewing such a nest from a precipice, the parents darted with such unforeseen impetuosity as nearly to throw him headlong; the female having been wounded, both flew away, nor did they return to the nest which was watched for two days. But, as if lamenting, they often sat on an opposite rock. It is a kind of bird, bold, very cunning, circumspect, observant, and of savage disposition. Steller saw a Fox (Vulpes lagopodus) carried off by one and dashed upon the rocks, and afterwards torn in pieces. It lives also on dead substances cast up by the sea, and various offscourings of the ocean.”
DESCRIPTION AND TECHNICAL OBSERVATIONS.
Genus Haliaëtus. Savigny, Description of Egypt, Zoology, p. 85, (1809.)
Size, large. Bill, strong, straight at the base, hooked and very sharp at the point, sides of the bill compressed, margin of upper mandible, slightly festooned. Wings rather long and pointed, formed for rapid and vigorous flight; tail moderate. Tarsi short, very strong, and with the toes, covered with scales; claws very strong, curved and sharp. About ten or twelve species known, which are scattered throughout the surface of the globe.