STELLER'S SEA EAGLE 351 



singly and like towers from the surface of this sea ; and therefore their nests, 

 were very inaccessible. Consequently, the eggs of our birds are unknown, 

 nor is anything known in regard to the number and treatment of their young. 

 About the middle of October these eagles move southward, flying high in the 

 air. In the winter they go to Japan and the North of China, returning in 

 summer to their breeding grounds in Kamchatka. 



The Ainos raise the young as an article of trade, and the Gil.iaks sell the 

 white tail feathers to the Japanese, who prize these feathers highly and are 

 willing to pay high prices for them. The Japanese like them to use in window 

 decoration. 



In captivity the sea eagles are very quiet, generally keeping away from the 

 other birds in the cage. Their food consists of fish and meat. Their sharp, 

 penetrating cry is as powerful as their bodies, and, in their native land, can 

 be heard above the noise of storm and surf. 



PJwimges. — Dr. Stejneger (1885) describes the natal down as 

 "pure white all over." He also describes "a downy young, just as- 

 suming the first plumage, the feathers coming out copiously on head, 

 upper neck, interscapular region, wings, breast, anal region, and tail. 

 The predominant color of the feathers is a dull blackish brown, 

 slightly lighter brownish on the middle of the feathers of the tojD 

 of the head; the inner webs of the wing-coverts are lighter, some at 

 the base whitish, secondaries and scapulars margined with lighter 

 brown. The tail-feathers, of which only the tips are visible, are 

 white near the end, mottled with blackish further up. The down 

 covering the rest of the body is of a smoky brownish gray." 



A young bird is described by Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway (1905) 

 as follows : "Dark umber or blackish-brown, the feathers of the head 

 and neck with lighter shaft-streaks; tertials (except at ends) and 

 basal third, or more, of inner webs of tail feathers, white; tail- 

 coverts much mixed with the same." 



The bird shown in Cassin's (1856) plate is evidently an older, but 

 still immature, bird. It has a wholly white, wedge-shaped tail, but 

 all the rest of the plumage is brownish black. This eagle must be 

 easily recognizable at a long distance in its strikingly marked adult 

 plumage, white forehead, white wing coverts, white belly and tibiae, 

 and cuneate white tail. Travelers in the Bering Sea region should 

 keep a sharp lookout for it. 



DISTRIBUTION 



Range. — Northeastern Asia, casual in Alaska. Steller's sea eagle 

 breeds in northeastern Siberia, Kamchatka, probably Sakhalin Island, 

 and possibly occasionally on the Commander Islands. In winter it 

 occurs south to Korea, Japan, the coasts of Amur and Ussuri, and the 

 Riu-kiu Islands. 



Casual records. — This eagle was recorded as seen, but not taken, 

 on Unalaska Island on May 26, 1906. As specimen confirmation was 



