50 NORTH AMERICAN O'OLOGY. PART I. 



his own observations, repeats the statement that this Eagle is never known to nest on 

 rocks. 1 



In the extreme Southern States, as in California, the White-headed Eagle breeds 

 as early as February. In Maine, the general impression is that the eggs are not 

 deposited before May, and at a still later period in the more northern portions of 

 the United States. More recent observations show this to be incorrect, and leave 

 hardly a doubt that these birds breed at a much earlier season of the year than is gen- 

 erally supposed, and greatly in advance of most of their family. Mr. Audubon speaks 

 of having once shot a female on her eggs, near the Mississippi, as early as the 17th 

 of January. Dr. Gambel found White-headed Eagles nesting on the cliffs along the 

 shores of the Pacific in February and March. Relying upon the information I had 

 generally received from others, I supposed that in the New England States their in- 

 cubation commenced at a somewhat later period. Some facts, however, which came 

 to my knowledge the present season (1856), assure me that even there the amatory 

 season of the White-headed Eagle is in the most inclement portion of the winter. 



Having occasion to visit the State of Maine in April, 1856, near the Damariscotta 

 River, the banks of which stream are frequented by these birds on account of the 

 abundance of fish, I received information which is materially inconsistent with 

 my previous impressions. I was informed, by a person who had long observed 

 them with some attention, that a pair had constructed a nest in a neighboring 

 wood, which they had occupied for several successive years. The previous season 

 (1855), late in May, he had climbed a tree in the immediate neighborhood, com- 

 manding a full view of the nest. It then contained young, nearly grown. From 

 this statement I was led to conclude that the female must have deposited her eggs 

 at some period in March, if we allowed four weeks for incubation, and as many more 

 for the growth of the young eaglets, and that there was no time to be lost if we 

 would secure the eggs before hatching. We accordingly visited the nest on the 

 27th of April, and found it situated on a tall pine, at least sixty feet from the 

 ground. The tree stood in a swampy wood, within a few rods of the stage road, 

 and not more than half a mile from the village of Damariscotta. It contained no 

 limbs or branches to facilitate ascent for at least the distance of thirty feet, and the 

 trunk at the base was from six to nine feet in circumference, rendering it impossible 

 to mount the tree by the aid only of the hands and feet. My assistant was, how- 

 ever, drawn up by means of a rope fastened round his body, the other end having 

 been thrown over a fork in the trunk, which occurred at the height of some eigh- 

 teen feet, and from which point the tree assumed the shape of two tall and perpen- 

 dicular columns. Having been aided in climbing to this fork, the rope was again 

 thrown over the nearest branch, about twelve feet above his head, and our adven- 

 turous climber was again raised, by the aid of those on the ground, 'to a height 

 where the branches of the tree rendered the remainder of the ascent comparatively 

 easy. 



While he was ascending, we observed several Eagles flying over our heads, but at 



1 Birds of America, (8vo,) I, 61. 



