THE OOLOGIST 



157 



who have proved conclusively that 

 the Bald Eagle is one of the strongest 

 contributing causes in the destruction 

 of the salmon during the spawning 

 season, and recommend that a bounty 

 be placed on the birds similar to the 

 one now in force in British Columbia. 

 Their contention is without doubt cor- 

 rect. The evidence against the eagle 

 is overwhelming for one only to see 

 it at work along the streams to satis- 

 fy himself that there must be thous- 

 ands of salmon that become its vic- 

 tims as they attempt to work their 

 way up stream. The destruction of 

 this number of salmon is a great 

 economic loss and the recommenda- 

 tion of the Bureau of Fisheries is only 

 a logical one. 



Omitting further discussion relative 

 to Bald Eagle flocks and the fish con- 

 sumed by them let me now mention 

 another instance where due to its 

 abundance and pernicious habits this 

 raptore is proving itself a pest. To 

 the westward, from Kodiak to far out 

 in the Aleutian chain, many Alaskans, 

 both whites and natives, are engaged 

 in what is known as fox farming, the 

 breeding of the rarer foxes — blues, sil- 

 ver-greys, and crosses — for the fur 

 market. These farms are usually lo- 

 cated on the smaller islands and in 

 most cases the foxes are unprotected 

 since the owners of these enterprises 

 seldom live in the immediate vicinity. 

 Our subject the eagle, cunning as he 

 is, is well aware of this fact and does 

 not hesitate to attack both the adult 

 and young foxes whenever the oppor- 

 tunity is afforded. All breeders of 

 foxes in the open must contend with 

 this plunderer. At Sand Point, in the 

 Shumigan Islands, I was shown the 

 badly mutilated skins of two blue 

 foxes that had been victims of eagles 

 raids. Both skins were hopelessly 

 torn and practically worthless. When 

 one considers that a blue fox skin 



brings from thirty dollars upwards in 

 the fur market, it is little wonder that 

 the fox breeders have become the 

 sworn enemies of this unpopular bird. 

 It is the worst foe with which they 

 have to combat, and every effort is 

 made toward its extermination. Every 

 eagle is shot when possible, and nests 

 found containing young or eggs are 

 promptly destroyed. 



In the foregoing I have attempted to 

 give some sort of idea of status of the 

 Bald Eagle in Alaska. In concluding 

 one other point should be touched up- 

 on, which particularly concerns the 

 ornithologist. This is relative to the 

 slaughter of song and other birds by 

 the above. P^om my observations no 

 other reptore is more destructive to 

 bird life. No member of the feathered 

 tribe is immune from its attacks; 

 botli land and water birds are treated 

 alike. At Unalaska there was found at 

 different times around several eagle 

 eyries the feathered remains of nearly 

 every species common to those parts 

 indicating that seemingly a bird diet 

 is as desirable as one of fish. Among 

 the water birds found were puffins, 

 auklets, murres, murrelets, gullimots, 

 ducks, and several species of waders, 

 while among the song bird victims 

 were Alaskan Longspurs, Aleutian 

 Rosy Finches, Western Savannah 

 Sparrows, Shumigan Fox Sparrows, 

 and a sub-species of the Song Spar- 

 row. Indentification of many of these 

 birds was difficult but in the cases 

 of the Longspur and Rosy Finch it 

 was comparatively simple for their 

 beautiful markings could always be 

 recognized. Birds captured by the 

 eagle and not taken to the nest are 

 usually carried to some cliff or knoll 

 on an islet to be devoured. When 

 rambling about the hills and cliffs in 

 the vicinity of the village of Unalaska 

 one frequently runs across these 

 places that have been selected by the 



