Haliaëtus leucocephalus (Linn.).
BALD EAGLE; AMERICAN EAGLE.
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.
