Sea Eagle enables it to profit by the greater industry of the Osprey (in the same
way that the Boatswain (Lestris parasiticus) obtains its food from the Gulls), by
pursuing it when heavily laden with a fish until it drops it, and then snatching up
the prize before it reaches the water. In revenge, the Ospreys occasionally unite
to drive the Eagle away from their haunts.
DESCRIPTION . .
Of a male.
C olour.—The general colour on the dorsal aspect is liver-brown, the edges of the feathers
being somewhat paler. The long and pointed feathers on the crown and hind head are white,
with brown central spots. A dark-brown stripe includes the orbit and runs along the side of
the neck to the shoulder. The quill feathers are brownish-black exteriorly, their inner vanes
being whitish, barred with brown. The tail is dusky hair-brown, crossed by eight bars of dark
liver-brown, the inner vanes of the feathers being barred alternately with dusky-brown and
spiled brownish-white. The under surface of the body is white. Bill bluish-black. Cere
bluish. Iris orange-coloured. Feet pale-blue.
F orm, &.C.—BUI short and strong; the cutting margin of the upper mandible is straight
to its hooked tip, with the exception of a slight angular projection near the corner of the
mouth and an obscure lobe about its middle. The nostrils, oblong-oval, extend, with a slight
degree of obliquity* nearly the whole length of the cere. The feathers of the forehead project
so as almost to conceal the cere above, and the lores are covered by dark hairs and feathers*
The wings, when folded, pass the tail about an inch. The second quill feather is the longest,
the third is scarcely shorter, the fourth is half an inch shorter, and the first is an inch and a
half shorter than the fourth, or about half an inch longer than the fifth *. All their inner webs
are narrower towards their points, but the sinuations are abrupt and distinct only in the first
three : the second, third, and fourth have their outer webs also sinuated. The tail is slightly
rounded. The tarsi, which are strong and about two inches long, are feathered on the anterior
surface only to the extent of half an inch below the joint: elsewhere they are covered by small
rounded, subangular, tiled scales, of which the anterior ones are rather the largest. The toes
are separated to their bases, and are, with their claws, nearly equal to each other in size, and
shorter than the tarsi. The fore toes are protected above by three large transverse scales
adjoining to the claws, succeeded by one or two pairs of smaller scales. Four large scales
cover near the whole of the hind toe. All the claws are rounded beneath, the middle one
alone having a nearly obsolete groove on its inner side; they are black, tapering, sharp-
pointed, and much curved. The soles and under surface of the toes are rough, like small-
grained shagreen "f.
*. In a fine adult specimen before us, just received from New Jersey, the third quill is a quarter of an inch longer
than the second, the fourth one inch shorter than the third; but the first and fifth are precisely of the above proportiofn
s. Sw. Each scale, in fact, is a small prickle, terminating in an acute point, perceptible to the naked eye, but very remarkable
when viewed under a common lens; they then present a miniature resemblance to the thorny processes on
the backs of Skates and similarly formed fish. Sw.
Inches.
Length from the tip of the bill to the end of
, the tail . . . . . 24
’ „ of the bill from the angle of the
I. mouth . . . . . . 1
„ of the bill measured along the curve
of its ridge . . . . . 2
Dimensions.
Lines. Inches. Lines.
Length of the longest quill feather . . 17 0
0 „ of the tarsus . . • • 2 0
’ of the middle toe . • * 1 6
6 „ of each of the claws in a straight
line . . . . • , ,.» 1 0 .
0 „ of ditto, following their curvature 1 7
The old, female is about two inches longer than the male, has less white on the
head, and some brown spots on the breast.
An immature bird differed from the preceding in all the wing coverts being
tipped with rusty-white, in the feathers of the top of the head having large oblong
brown marks in their centres, in the breast being spotted with brown rhomboidal
marks, and in there being some brown spots on the flanks.
[7.] 1. F alco peregrinus. (Linn.) Peregrine Falcon.
Ge n u s . Falco. L in n . A u c t o r u m .
Spotted Hawk. (Falco maculatus.) E dw a rds, i., pi. 3. Male, from Hudson’s Bay.
Black Hawk. (Falco niger.) I d e m , i., pi. 4. Female, from Hudson’s Straits.
Peregrine Falcon. P e n n . Arct. Zool., ii-, p. 202, No. 97*
Falco Peregrinus. L a t h . Ind., i., p. 38, sp. 72.
Great-footed Hawk. (Falco Peregrinus.) O r d . Wilson's Om., ix., p. 120, pi. 76. Female.
'Falco Peregrinus. Se l b y . Brit. Om., i., p. 37, pi. 15- R ic h a r d s . App. Parry's Sec. Voy.,
p. 342, No. 1. Btjonap. Syn., p. 27, No. 9.
Apeestas-kasoo. (Little Eagle.) Cr e e I n d ia n s.
This bold and active bird is a typical species of the “ True Falcons,” or, as
they have been termed on account of their docility, the “ Noble Birds of Prey.
They are characterised by a short, strong bill, which is curved from the base, and
is armed on each side, near the point, with an acute tooth, that fits a notch in the
lower mandible. The cere is very short, and the nostrils are small circular openings,
with a slender round pillar in the centre. Their wings are long and pointed,
the first and third quill feathers nearly equalling the second, which is the longest
of all. Baron Cuvier ascribes to this form of the wings the difficulty which the
Falcons experience in ascending vertically, and the consequent necessity they are
under of making a very oblique ascent in calm weather, or of flying against the
wind when ihey wish to rise in the atmosphere during a breeze. On the other