282 BALD EAGLE 



Hawks sometimes combine to drive away the Bald 

 Eagles, but never attack them singly. 



The foot of the Fish Hawk is remarkably 

 adapted to holding its slippery prey, the toes hav- 

 ing pads with horny spikes in addition to sharp 

 curved nails (Fig. 168, p. 281). 



Bald Eagle : Haliceetus leucocephalm. 



(Plate XIX.) 



Geographic Distribution. — North America, breeding through- 

 out its range. 



The Bald Eagle, being our national emblem, is 

 familiar to all good Americans, but in the north 

 the sight of the splendid bird itself is a rare and 

 exciting one. In Florida the tourist is more often 

 privileged to see it, and if the privilege is not 

 abused, many interesting performances may be 

 witnessed. Wilson gives a sjiirited account of 

 the Eagle's capture of a wild Swan, and also 

 mentions the bird's habit of making the Fish 

 Hawk give up the fish it has caught, while Doc- 

 tor Ralph gives hints of most interesting nesting 

 habits to be seen by the close and unobtrusive 

 observer. The Eagle lives largely on wounded 

 water-fowl and fish. In the west and southwest 

 the Spaniards value it for the number of squirrels 

 it kills. A curious case is recorded of an Eagle 

 which was shot and found to have on its neck a 

 locket in the form of the bleached skull of a 

 weasel, hanging b}^ its firmly set teeth. In the 



