Imler saw 23 eagles concentrated 

 ]iere. 



Althoug-h adnlt bald eagles, once 

 established in a nesting area, may 

 spend much of the year in that 

 vicinity, they usually migrate south- 

 ward Mhen confronted with severe 

 cold weather. Not only do northern 

 birds move southward with the 

 arrival of cold w^eather but the 

 young of southern nesters wander 

 northward in summer after they 

 have acquired their powers of 

 flight. The latter fact has been 

 conclusively demonstrated by 

 Charles L. Broley, who, during the 

 period 1939-46, banded and released 

 814 young bald eagles along the 

 gulf coast of Florida (Broley 1947) . 

 Most of these birds were released 

 in January and February and 48 

 returns were obtained from them. 

 Whereas no recoveries were re- 

 corded north of Florida during 

 January, February, or March, none 

 was made in Florida during the 

 ]^eriod June to October, indicating 

 that the young leave the State soon 

 after they can fly. Several had 

 travelled more than 1,000 miles to 

 the northeast and one had reached 

 Kings County, Prince Edward Is- 

 land, Canada, in the Gulf of St. 

 Lawrence, more than 1,600 miles 

 away. 



Bruce Wright (1953, p. 56) has 

 picked up evidence of this north- 

 ward drift of bald eagles in late 

 summer on the estuary of the St. 

 John River in New Brunswick, 

 Canada. He states: 



The peak population is reached by 

 August 1st. After this date there is a 

 steady decline until only a few are left 

 in luid-September. In 1949 the peak 

 population on the 40-square mile study 



area was counted and estimated to be 

 f)4, and in 1950 it was 45. This is in 

 exces.s of one eagle per square mile, 

 which suggests a total population of at 

 least 100 eagles in the area. * * * They 

 are not a local population, altliough there 

 are a few breeding records. Banding 

 recoveries show that birds rai.sed in areas 

 as far apart as Ontario and Florida sum- 

 mer in the estuary. 



Elsewhere in the United States 

 and Canada there is less informa- 

 tion on the seasonal movements of 

 bald eagles based on the returns 

 from banded birds. Broley (1947) 

 has called attention to the fact that 

 at "Hawk Mountain" in northern 

 New Jersey the peak of southward 

 eagle migration is in September, but 

 he attributes this to the return of 

 southern birds that had moved 

 northward after the nesting season. 

 Northern breeders, he pointed out, 

 leave for the South at a later date. 



In Southeastern Alaska, before 

 the bounty had reduced their num- 

 bers, bald eagles were recognized as 

 the most abundant predatory bird, 

 other than possibly the raven. 

 George Willett, who was well ac- 

 quainted with conditions there, had 

 the following to say in 1923 (in cor- 

 respondence) : 



I would hesitate even to make a guess 

 at the number of eagles that are within 

 50 miles of Craig, but they would un- 

 doubtedly number several tliousand. 

 Along a great part of our shoreline there 

 would probably be a nest every lialf mile 

 at least and there is plenty of shoreline. 

 In March, when the herring spawn here 

 in Klawak Inlet, I have seen over 40 

 eagles in one tree and have counted over 

 700 in 3 miles, and tliese were probably 

 only a small portion of those that were 

 present. 



Writing at about that same time, 

 E. P. Walker, executive officer of 



