STELLER'S SEA EAGLE 349 



Winter. — Throughout much of its range the northern bald eagle 

 is permanently resident. But from the extreme northern portions 

 in the interior, when the lakes and rivers are frozen and the ground 

 is covered deeply with snow, it is difficult or impossible for the 

 eagles to find food; they nmst then retire to the seacoast or to a 

 milder climate where they can find open water. Eagles are found 

 all winter on the coast of Maine. On the Hudson Kiver, north of 

 New York City, they are often seen floating down the river on ice 

 cakes. Dr. Herrick (1924c) says of his Ohio eagles: "In ordinary 

 seasons, according to Mr. and Mrs. [Otto] Buehring, they are away 

 only from six to eight weeks, or from mid-November to mid- 

 January ; but in the season of 1921-22, which was one of the mildest 

 o]i record, they were missed for barely a fortnight in the latter part 

 of December. In the winter of 1922-23, which continued rather mild 

 until January, both birds remained in the neighborhood, and were 

 even seen resting on the nest itself at the very end of December." 



THALLASOAETUS PELAGICUS (Pallas) 

 STELLER'S SEA EAGLE 



HABITS 



The claim of this magnificent eagle to a place on our check-list is 

 based on its accidental occurrence on the Pribilof Islands, Kodiak 

 Island, and the Aleutian Islands, the first two records being sub- 

 stantiated by specimens. The Pribilof record is thus given by 

 G. Dallas Hanna (1920) : "A bird of this species was shot and wounded 

 on St. Paul Island, December 15, 1917, but fell into the sea. Five 

 days later it was picked up on the beach in badly decomposed con- 

 dition. Enough of the specimen could be saved however to enable 

 the identification to be made in the National Museum." 



A Kamchatkan sea eagle, as this bird was formerly called, was 

 taken on Kodiak Island, Alaska, August 10, 1921. Charles H. Gil- 

 bert (1922), who was a member of the party, reports the circmn- 

 stances as follows: 



The bird was shot by a native who formed a member of our party, and who 

 frequently hunts about Karlulj Lalie. He stated that he bad observed this 

 strange eagle on a number of previous occasions and had tried to capture it, 

 and that this was the only bird of the kind he had ever seen. Bald Eagles 

 were abundant in this locality. 



My few notes state that the head was not white but was covered with 

 feathers variegated much as in the Golden Eagle. The tail and leg feathers 

 were white, as were the entire front edges of the wings. The feet and bill 

 were extremely powerful, obviously larger than in the Bald Eagle, which we 

 had for comparison. Both bill and feet were strikingly bright in color, of a 

 deep golden yellow, which covered also the bare portion of the legs. The tail 

 feathers were graduated. 



