I-1 Aquila Capite Albo, The Bald Eagle

Mark Catesby, Natural History I-1: The Bald Eagle

This bird weighs nine pounds. The iris of the eye is white, and over the eye is a bump covered with yellow skin. The bill and cere are yellow, the legs and feet yellow, the talons black, the head and part of the neck are white, as is the tail. All the rest of the body and wings are brown.

Though it is a small eagle, it has great strength and spirit, preying on pigs, lambs, and fawns.

They always make their nests near the sea or great rivers, and usually on old, dead pine or cypress trees, continuing to build annually on the same tree until it falls. Though the bald eagle is formidable to all birds, it allows them to build nears its nest without attacking them, particularly the fishing and other hawks, herons, etc, which all make their nests in high trees. In some places they are so near one another that they appear to be a rookery.

This bird is called the bald eagle in both Virginia and Carolina, though its head is as covered with feathers as the body. Both the cock and hen have white heads, and look very similar to one another.