16 ■ NORTH AMERICAIS- EAGLES. 



distance until its hunger is satisfied. Furthermore it does not hesi- 

 tate even to pursue the vultures and compel them to disgorge, when 

 if it fail to catch the coveted morsels before they reach the ground 

 it alights and devours them. Audubon relates that on one occasion 

 he saw it kill a vulture that for some reason was unable completely 

 to disgorge. 



Along the shore of the Bay of Fundy, in May, 1833, Audubon found 

 this eagle in company with crows and ravens feeding on mussels and 

 'sea eggs.' Occasionally it seizes prey that it is unable to eat, as in 

 the following case mentioned by Maj. C. E. Bendire on the authority 

 of Mr. Samuel B. Ladd: The ground beneath a nest found by the 

 latter gentleman in Lancaster County, Pa., was strewn with land 

 terrapins in various stages of decay, which the eagles had evidently 

 taken to feed their young and upon more careful examination thrown 

 out of the nest. 



ECONOMIC STATUS. 



Since the bald eagle feeds largely on fish of various kinds, it of 

 course destroys species useful to man, and to this degree must be con- 

 sidered injurious; but the total amount of this harm would seem to 

 be comparatively small, for much of its finny prey consists of species 

 not economically important. On the other hand the devouring of 

 vast quantities of dead fish, that if left to decay would pollute the 

 air, is a positive benefit. Its destruction of ducks, geese, and other 

 water fowl, all of which are available as food for man, is perhaps its 

 most serious because most frequent fault; but this is to a con- 

 siderable extent local, and confined largely to the winter and the 

 seasons of migration. It attacks gulls and other non-game water 

 birds so seldom that even were their economic value much greater 

 than it is there would be little against the eagle on this score. Upland 

 game birds are not often molested, and song birds are evidently 

 considered too small to be worth pursuit. 



Although not often attacking large animals, it sometimes kills 

 fawns. This, however, is much more than offset by its destruction 

 of such more or less noxious mammals as opossums, raccoons, ground 

 squirrels, prairie dogs, rabbits, rats, and mice. 



The complaints lodged against this eagle for the destruction of 

 poultry and the smaller domestic animals, such as pigs and sheep, 

 seem to come largely from the southeastern United States, in localities 

 where the bird is rather numerous, where other food is at times scarce, 

 and where the domesticated animals are easy of access ; but the total 

 amount of this damage is, comparatively speaking, not great. The 

 bald eagle is, moreover, almost everywhere somewhat of a scavenger, 

 a trait that should be set down to its credit. 



All things considered, the bald eagle is rather more beneficial than 

 otherwise, since much of its food is of little or no direct economic 



