GRAY SEA EAGLE 319 



H. H. Slater (1901) in Iceland once watched an old sea eagle giving 

 instruction to its young. First it was shown how to fly in large 

 even circles above the water; then several stoops were made at 

 imaginary fish below. The old bird checked itself by spreading its 

 wings long before reaching the water and once appeared to stoop 

 when not above the water at all. Finally both birds went off 

 together. 



Plumages. — This subject has been fully treated not only by With- 

 erby (1924, vol. 2, p. 172) but also by Naumann (vol. 5, p. 162) and 

 Schi0ler (1931, vol. 3, pp. 64 and 79). Probably the wholly white 

 tail is not assumed till the fourth year. The bare, scutellated tarsus 

 alone serves to distinguish it at a glance from the golden eagle. 



Food. — This also varies according to locality. Greenland birds 

 subsist largely on fish, especially salmon, and Briinnich's murres 

 {Urla I. lomvia). Other birds recorded include eider duck, mallard, 

 fulmar, and ptarmigan, while young seals are also occasionally 

 taken. In the Shetlands and Hebrides lambs and even occasionally 

 sheep, especially when in difficulties, were attacked; rabbits and do- 

 mestic poultry were also taken and carrion freely eaten, as well as 

 several species of gulls and auks. In central Europe many coarse 

 fish are taken, and the diet includes young roedeer, lambs, hares, 

 foxes, hamsters, rats, moles, and mice, as well as many species of 

 birds (crows, owls, grebes, ducks [many species], coot, moor-hen, 

 pheasant, lapwing, oystercatcher, curlew, and poultry). In Rumania 

 I have seen a hedgehog at a nest with young, and on the South Rus- 

 sian Steppes it is said to feed largely on small mammals, such as 

 spermophiles and Sjmlax. 



Behavior. — At rest the sea eagle is a heavy, lumpish bird. On the 

 low-lying shores of the Black Sea where trees are scarce, it maj^ be 

 seen sitting humped up on the mud flats, with the head sunk among 

 the shoulder feathers, looking more like a stump or accumulation of 

 rubbish around a stake than a bird. 



The decrepit-looking hermit invites the attention of the hooded 

 crows, which slyly approach, one bird distracting attention in front 

 while the other from behind tweaks a tail feather of the great bird 

 and hastily flaps out of reach as a huge wing is outspread and used 

 to aim a blow at the aggi'essor. Once on the wing the whole appear- 

 ance of the bird is at once altered. The broad wings, with each pri- 

 mary standing out by itself, and the wedge-shaped tail, pure white 

 and transparent-looking in the adult, form an impressive picture as 

 with slow flaps the great bird rises and soars in circles overhead. 

 From time to time it may utter its cry, gak-gak-gaJc-gah^ four times 

 repeated with outstretched neck and widely opened beak, but for such 

 a large bird, the notes are not striking, and there is another distress 

 call, a high-pitched querulous chatter. 



