SPECIES 5. FALCO FULVUS. RING-TAIL EAGLE. [Plate LV.—Fig. 1, young bird.] No. LINN. Syst. ed. 10, p. 88.—Black Eagle, Arct. Zool. p. 195, THE reader is now presented with a portrait of this celebrated Eagle, drawn from a fine specimen shot in the county of Montgomery, Pennsylvania. The figure here given, though reduced to one-third the size of life, is strongly characteristic of its original. With respect to the habits of the species, such particulars only shall be selected as are well authenticated, rejecting whatever seems vague, or savours too much of the marvellous. This noble bird, in strength, spirit and activity, ranks among the first of its tribe. It is found, though sparingly dispersed, over the whole temperate and arctic regions, particularly the latter; breeding on high precipitous rocks; always preferring a mountainous country. In its general appearance it has great resemblance to the Golden Eagle, from which, however, it differs in being rather less; as also in the colours and markings of the tail; and, as it is said, in being less noisy. When young, the colour of the body is considerably lighter, but deepens into a blackish brown as it advances in age. The tail feathers of this bird are highly valued by the various tribes of American Indians, for ornamenting their calumets, or Pipes of Peace. Several of these pipes, which were brought from the remote regions of Louisiana by captain Lewis, are now deposited in Peale's Museum, each of which has a number of the tail feathers of this bird attached to it. The Northern as well as Southern Indians seem to follow the like practice, as appears by the numerous calumets, formerly belonging to different tribes, to be seen in the same magnificent collection. Pennant informs us, that the independent Tartars train this Eagle for the chase of hares, foxes, wolves, antelopes, &c. and that they esteem the feathers of the tail the best for pluming their arrows. The Ring-tail Eagle is characterized by all as a generous spirited and docile bird; and various extraordinary incidents are related of it by different writers, not, however, sufficiently authenticated to deserve repetition. The truth is, the solitary habits of the Eagle now before us, the vast inaccessible cliffs to which it usually retires, united with the scarcity of the species in those regions inhabited by man, all combine to render a particular knowledge of its manners very difficult to be obtained. The author has, once or twice, observed this bird sailing along the alpine declivities of the White mountains of New Hampshire, early in October, and again, over the Highlands of Hudson's river, not far from West Point. Its flight was easy, in high circuitous sweeps, its broad white tail, tipped with brown, expanded like a fan. Near the settlements on Hudson's Bay it is more common; and is said to prey on hares, Buffon and the various species of Grous which abound there. observes, that though other Eagles also prey upon hares, this species is a more fatal enemy to those timid animals, which are the constant object of their search, and the prey which they prefer. The Latins, after Pliny, termed the Eagle Valeria, quasi valens viribus, because of its strength, which appears greater than that of the other Eagles in proportion to its size. The Ring-tail Eagle measures nearly three feet in length; the bill is of a brownish horn colour; the cere, sides of the mouth and feet yellow; iris of the eye reddish hazel, the eye turned considerably forwards; eyebrow remarkably prominent, projecting over the eye, and giving a peculiar sternness to the aspect of the bird; the crown is flat; the plumage of the head, throat and neck, long and pointed; that on the upper part of the head and neck very pale ferruginous; fore part of the crown black; all the pointed feathers are shafted with black; whole VOL. I.-Ll upper parts dark blackish brown; wings black; tail rounded, long, of a white or pale cream colour, minutely sprinkled with specks of ash and dusky, and ending in a broad band of deep dark brown, of nearly one-third its length; chin, cheeks and throat, black; whole lower parts a deep dark brown, except the vent and inside of the thighs, which are white, stained with brown; legs thickly covered to the feet with brownish white down or feathers; claws black, very large, sharp and formidable, the hind one full two inches long. The Ring-tail Eagle is found in Russia, Switzerland, Germany, France, Scotland, and the northern parts of America. As Marco Polo, in his description of the customs of the Tartars, seems to allude to this species, it may be said to inhabit the whole circuit of the arctic regions of the globe. The Golden Eagle, on the contrary, is said to be found only in the more warm and temperate countries of the ancient continent.* Later discoveries, however, have ascertained it to be also an inhabitant of the United States.† * Buffon, vol. i, p. 56, Trans. Naturalists being now of opinion that the Ring-tailed Eagle and the Golden Eagle are the same, we add the following synonymes:- Yellow-headed Eagle, Arct. Zool. No. 86. D.-Golden Eagle, LATH. Syn. 1, 31, No. 5.-Pl. Enl. 410. -Falco fulvus, Ind. Orn. 1, No. 4; F. chrysaëtos, Id. No. 8; F. melanonotus, Id. No. 26; F. melanæetus, Id. No. 3.—Aigle royal, TEмM. Man d'Orn. 1, p. 38. SPECIES 6. FALCO HALIETUS. FISH-HAWK, OR OSPREY. [Plate XXXVII.-Fig. 1.] Carolina Osprey, LATн. Syn. 1, p. 46, No. 26, A.—Falco piscator, BRISS. I, p. 361, No. 14; 362, No. 15.-Faucon pécheur de la Caroline, BUFF. 1, p. 142.-Fishing Hawk, CATESB. Car. 1, p. 2.-Falco Carolinensis, GMEL. Syst. 1, p. 263, No. 26. Peale's Museum, No. 144.* THIS formidable, vigorous-winged, and well-known bird, subsists altogether on the finny tribes that swarm in our bays, creeks, and rivers; procuring his prey by his own active skill and industry; and seeming no farther dependent on the land than as a mere resting place, or in the usual season, a spot of deposite for his nest, eggs and young. The figure here given is reduced to one-third the size of life, to correspond with that of the Bald Eagle, his common attendant, and constant plunderer. The Fish-Hawk is migratory; arriving on the coasts of New York and New Jersey about the twenty-first of March, and retiring to the south about the twenty-second of September. Heavy equinoctial storms may vary these periods of arrival and departure a few days; but long observation has ascertained, that they are kept with remarkable regularity. On the arrival of these birds in the northern parts of the United States, in March, they sometimes find the bays and ponds frozen, and experience a difficulty in procuring fish for many days. Yet there is no instance on record of their attacking birds, or inferior land animals, with intent to feed upon them; though their great strength of flight, as well of feet and claws, would seem * The following synonymes may be added: Le Balbuzard, BUFF. Pl. Ent. 414. Aquila piscatrix Vieillot Ois, de l'Am. Sept; v. 1, p. 29, pl. 4. to render this no difficult matter. But they no sooner arrive, than they wage war on the Bald Eagles, as against a horde of robbers and banditti; sometimes succeeding, by force of numbers and perseverance, in driving them from their haunts; but seldom or never attacking them in single combat. The first appearance of the Fish-Hawk in spring, is welcomed by the fishermen, as the happy signal of the approach of those vast shoals of herring, shad, &c. &c., that regularly arrive on our coasts, and enter our rivers in such prodigious multitudes. Two of a trade, it is said, seldom agree; the adage, however, will not hold good in the present case, for such is the respect paid the Fish-hawk not only by this class of men, but generally, by the whole neighbourhood where it resides, that a person who should attempt to shoot one of them, would stand a fair chance of being insulted. This prepossession in favour of the Fish-hawk is honourable to their feelings. They associate with its first appearance ideas of plenty, and all the gaiety of business; they see it active and industrious like themselves; inoffensive to the productions of their farms; building with confidence, and without the least disposition to concealment, in the middle of their fields, and along their fences; and returning year after year regularly to its former abode. The nest of the Fish-Hawk is usually built on the top of a dead or decaying tree, sometimes not more than fifteen, often upwards of fifty feet, from the ground. It has been remarked by the people of the seacoasts, that the most thriving tree will die in a few years, after being taken possession of by the FishHawk. This is attributed to the fish-oil, and to the excrements of the bird; but is more probably occasioned by the large heap of wet, salt materials, of which it is usually composed. In my late excursions to the seashore I ascended to several of these nests, that had been built in from year to year, and found them constructed as follows: externally large sticks, from half an inch to an inch and a half in diameter, and two or three feet in length, piled to the height of four or five feet, and from two to three feet in breadth; these were intermixed with corn-stalks, |