XXIX 



Bald Eagle; White-Headed Sea Eagle; Bied of 



Washington 



332. Haliocetus leucocephalus (Linn.) 



The Bald Eagle, the emblem of our country, is a bird 

 of wide distribution, extending from the Alaskan penin- 

 sula to Key West, Florida. The body of the Bald Eagle 

 is dark brown in color and its head and tail are white ; 

 it is about three feet long, with a wing-spread of seven 

 or more feet. 



The first three years of its life this bird is of a 

 blackish brown color; then the white on the head and 

 tail makes its appearance and becomes the distinguishing 

 mark of the Bald Eagle, as compared to the Golden 

 species. 



The nest is usually in a tall tree near the ocean, 

 a large inland lake, or river course, and is primarily 

 a huge affair, while the repairs added each year make 

 it assume proportions almost beyond belief. (Fig. 41.) 

 It must be recalled that these birds are said to mate for 

 life and have been known to occupy the same eyry for 

 forty or fifty years. Sticks as large around as a man's 

 wrist and four feet long enter into the walls of these 

 homes. Each nest usually has two eggs, with no special 

 markings. In Florida, laying usually begins in November 

 and December and by late February the young birds are 

 ready to leave the nest. In Alaska, the nesting season is 

 in May and June. The Alaskan species is larger than 

 the southern bird. 



Bald Eagles are more docile in captivity than the 

 Golden and in some instances become attached to their 

 keepers, but they are always timid or rabid with stran- 

 gers. These birds are not so skilled as Ospreys at fishing 

 from the water, but are expert when it comes to attacking 

 the other fishermen in the air. An Osprey or Gull with a 

 beak full of fish has very little show of reaching home 

 with the catch if a Bald Eagle should make an attack 



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