lasted for nearly 2 hours. The 

 eagle alighted on the animal's head 

 or neck and, by beating its wings, 

 turned the heifer aside whenever 

 she tried to rejoin the herd from 

 which she had been separated by 

 the bird's attack. When finally 

 rescued the heifer Avas in a state of 

 exhaustion. 



POULTRY 



In areas where the bald eagle is 

 abundant, its tendencies, be they 

 for good or bad, are apt to be in- 

 tensified. Should that abundance 

 occur where poultry is available, 

 farmers are almost certain to voice 

 complaints. Such, apparently, was 

 the situation that prevailed on an 

 island in the Kennebec River in 

 Maine, where a farmer kept a flock 

 of turkeys in an open-top runway 

 fully a mile from his home. In 

 1933, the farmer lost TO turkeys and 

 was obliged to move the remainder 

 of the flock to a covered runway 

 nearer to farm buildings. 



In writing of the food brought 

 into the great bald eagle nest at 

 Vermilion, Ohio, Herrick (1924 b, 

 p. 405) stated: 



The chickens brought to the eyrie were 

 commonly white, to judge from the few 

 i-emaining feathers, and of broiler size ; 

 these were always plucked nearly clean, 

 and as with the fish they were often 

 lacking the head. The farmers natu- 

 rally resent the loss of their chickens, and 

 are commonly sworn enemies of the 

 Eagle in consequence ; but when we con- 

 sider the wide area over which these 

 birds range in the course of the season, 

 and the relatively small number of 

 domestic fowl destroyed, only one in 

 sixteen days in 1923, it is evident that 

 individual losses are bound to be small. 



Despite the local seriousness of 

 such predation, the bald eagle has 

 been so drastically reduced in the 

 United States as to preclude its 

 being a significant menace to 

 poultry. 



Remains of a single chicken, 

 which may have been carrion 

 picked up in the vicinity of a fox 

 farm, was the only evidence of this 

 kind disclosed in the 435 Alaskan 

 bald eagle stomachs examined dur- 

 ing this study. 



Invertebrates 



Crustacea and other aquatic in- 

 vertebrates comprised 2 percent of 

 Alaskan bald eagles' food as re- 

 vealed by the 435 stomachs exam- 

 ined (table 2) , and reflect the beach- 

 combing habits of the bird. Here 

 again it is problematical what por- 

 tion of this food was dead when 

 found by the birds but, whatever its 

 character, little of economic signifi- 

 cance can be attached to it. Crabs 

 of several species were found in 33 

 stomachs, the most frequently iden- 

 tified being the common edible crab 

 ( Crmcer magister) . The remains of 

 a small octopus, a shrimp, and an 

 amphipod testify to the variety of 

 marine invertebrate food that the 

 bald eagle may pick up on the beach. 

 It would appear from the contents 

 of the stomachs that the eagle dis- 

 cards the heavily chitinized ter- 

 minal joints of the legs of crabs. 

 These seldom were found, whereas 

 the basal joints of the legs were com- 

 mon in the stomach contents. 



Carrion 



In the wildlife field, the term 

 "carrion" is applied to any dead 



41 



