. A history of British birds . ave the first scapular on each sideof a pure white. The Norwich Museum possesses a similarexample from Algeria. Young Golden Eagles, before as-suming the fully mature plumage, often have the feathersof the tarsus white, and in this state some ornithologistshave been inclined to regard them as belonging to a distinctspecies. The foot of the Golden Eagle is so distinctly marked fromthat of the White-tailed or Cinereous Eagle, as to afford themeans of deciding between the two at any age; and thethree anterior toes of both species are therefore here figuredto shew th
. A history of British birds . ave the first scapular on each sideof a pure white. The Norwich Museum possesses a similarexample from Algeria. Young Golden Eagles, before as-suming the fully mature plumage, often have the feathersof the tarsus white, and in this state some ornithologistshave been inclined to regard them as belonging to a distinctspecies. The foot of the Golden Eagle is so distinctly marked fromthat of the White-tailed or Cinereous Eagle, as to afford themeans of deciding between the two at any age; and thethree anterior toes of both species are therefore here figuredto shew the distinction. The foot on the left hand is thatof the Golden Eagle, in which the tarsus is clothed withfeathers and each toe is covered with small reticulations asfar as the last phalanx, then with the three broad scalesalready referred to. In the foot of the White-tailed Eagle,represented by the figure on the right hand, the reticulationsare confined to the tarsus, the whole length of each toe beingcovered with broad The figure of the Golden Eagle at the head of this article GOLDEN EAGLE. 19 was taken from a Hue specimen at the garden of the Zoolo-gical Society, where it had lived for eight years. The power of vision in birds is observed to be very extra-ordinary ; and in none is it more conspicuous than in theEagles, and the Falconidce generally. It has been statedthat, probably in the whole range of anatomy, no more perfectadaptation of structure to function could be adduced than isto be found in the numerous and beautiful modifications inthe form of various parts of the eyes of difterent animals,destined to exercise vision in media of various degrees oftransparency as well as density. The figure on the righthand of the vignette below represents the circle, composedof fifteen bony plates, by which the orb of the eye of theGolden Eagle is supported. These bony plates are capableof slight motion upon each other. The figure on the lefthand in the vignette below repres
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Keywords: ., bookauthorsaun, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjectbirds
