the food (9.3 percent) of the Ahiska 

 bald eagles (table -2). Of these, 

 the starry flounder {riatlchthi/H 

 stellatus), identified in 28 of the 

 stomachs, was most frequently 

 found. Halibuts of the genera 

 Atheresthes, Hipj^oglossus^ and 

 Hippoglossoides, and flounders 

 {Leindopsetta hilijieata) were dis- 

 closed in a total of 14 stomachs, al- 

 though the same species doubtless 

 occurred in others when identifica- 

 tion could not accurately be made. 



The starry flounders were com- 

 mon in the shallow waters of the 

 tidal flats and stream mouths of 

 Southeastern Alaska and were easy 

 prey for the eagles. At Keku 

 Strait on June 29, 1941, a female 

 eagle visited its nest twice during 

 the evening hours, each time bring- 

 ing in a flounder of about II/2 to 2 

 pounds. This eagle and another, 

 carrying a fresh flounder, were 

 collected for their stomachs ; in each 

 case the feathers of the underparts 

 were wet indicating tliat the birds 

 probably removed the living fish 

 from the water. In this area, 

 eagles were seen bringing in not 

 only freslily killed flounders but 

 living ones as well. 



Herring. — Herring were identi- 

 fied in 20 of the 435 Alaskan bald 

 eagle stomachs (table 2). This 

 does not indicate a significant con- 

 sumption of herring in these north- 

 ern waters, but the finding of 18 in 

 1 stomach shows that when the 

 birds encounter a convenient sup- 

 ply they satiate themselves on it. 

 Ernest P. Walker (1927) has de- 

 scribed eagle activity in the pres- 

 ence of a herring run in the 

 following!: words: 



When the herring congregate in certain 

 favorable regions for a considerable 

 period prior to spawning, many kinds of 

 birds, including the Eagle, also congre- 

 gate there. Eagles then feed largely on 

 herring found dead on the beaches and 

 occasionally live herring are picked up 

 from the water when at the surface. 

 * * * The damage under such circum- 

 stances to the herring * * * is wholly 

 uegligilile. 



On May 30, 1941, the senior 

 author observed bald eagles diving 

 for and capturing live herring near 

 Kootznahoo Inlet on Admiralty 

 Island; of 14 attempts, 5 were 

 successful. 



How the bald eagle may take ad- 

 vantage of the activities of other 

 fish-eaters is well illustrated by an 

 incident recorded by Joseph S. 

 Dixon (1909, p. 190)^. One after- 

 noon this observer noticed a com- 

 motion in an Alaskan bay where a 

 flock of loons was fishing, possibly 

 on herring. An eagle was seen to 

 leave a nearby perch, swoop down, 

 and strike a fish in the water and 

 then return to its perch, where it 

 gave a shrill scream. According 

 to Dixon : 



At the sound, eagles began to c()nK' from 

 all directions to the spot where he had 

 secured his fish, and within five minutes 

 there were inoic than twenty eagles 

 assembled. Only the first ones secured 

 fish, as the fish which had evidently 

 been driven to the surface of the water 

 by the loons, went down again : * * * 



Otlwr fi-'<hes. — Other lishes. insig- 

 nificant in the total food of the 

 Alaskan bald eagle, included smelts 



( Thaleich thy.s pacifious ) , sand 

 lances (Ammodyfes fob/'anih'^), 

 blennies (Pholis), Alaska blackfish 



{l)(///Ja perforah's), and wolftish 



( .1 nnirhichfhj/s). 



30 



