SOUTHERN BALD EAGLE 331 



Apparently eagles do not attack the larger and more formidable 

 birds, such as Ward's herons, American egrets, or sandhill cranes. 

 Mr. Nicholson tells me that he has never found the bones or feathers 

 of these birds in the eagles' nests and that on three occasions he has 

 found the cranes nesting Avithin plain sight of occupied eagles' nests 

 and within 100 or 200 yards. 



Behavior. — The flight of the bald eagle is powerful and impres- 

 sive, but not so graceful or inspiring as that of the golden eagle. Its 

 ordinary traveling flight appears heavy and labored, as it moves 

 steadilj^ along with slow beats of its great wings, but it is really much 

 swifter than it seems, as is often the case with large birds. But in 

 pursuit of its prey it develops marvelous speed, which the swiftest 

 wildfowl can seldom escape. It often sails along on a level course 

 on widespread wings for a considerable distance; again it soars in 

 great circles to an immense height, from which it sometimes makes 

 a thrilling dive at terrific speed on half-closed wings. 



About its nest the bald ,eagle is an arrant coward, leaving the nest 

 as the intruder approaches, flying about at a safe distance and squeal- 

 ing, or perching on a distant tree to watch proceedings. I have never 

 had one even come within gunshot range when I was near the nest. 

 Mr. Nicholson, in all his experience, has never had an eagle even 

 threaten to attack him, except on two occasions, both by the same 

 pair. In one case he was attacked by both birds, swooping alternately 

 within 6 or 8 feet of him. Bendire (1892) mentions three cases where 

 the eagles have attacked men attempting to rob the nests, but in no 

 case was the man actually struck. The fierceness of eagles has been 

 greatly exaggerated. They are really mild-tempered birds and often 

 make gentle and devoted pets, when raised in captivity. They are 

 easily raised, if not taken from the nest when too young; but they 

 require an astonishing amount of food. 



Voice. — The voice of the bald eagle seems to me to be ridiculously 

 weak and insignificant, more of a squeal than a scream, quite un- 

 becoming a bird of its size and strength. Dr. Ralph (Bendire, 1892) 

 says : "The cry of the male is a loud and clear 'cac-cac-cac,' quite dif- 

 ferent from that of the female, so much so that I could always recog- 

 nize the sex of the bird by it ; the call of the latter is more harsh and 

 often broken." Ralph Hoffmann (1927) says : "The cry of the Eagle, 

 heard oftenest near its nest, is a high-pitched very metallic ktneek huk 

 Jcuk^ kweek-a-kuk-kuk with the quality of an unoiled castor." 



Field marks. — An adult bald eagle is unmistakable, with its pure- 

 white head and tail and its dark brown body ; the head is conspicuous 

 at a great distance, when the bird is perched on a tree, especially 

 against a dark background. The juvenal first-year bird is uniformly 

 dark colored and is easily confused with the golden eagle; but it 

 lacks the golden hackles on the neck and head, and the young golden 



