296 WHITE-HEADED EAGLE. 



which was, at least, fuur feet in diameter, proved fruitless. Aided by au assistant, we- 

 succeeded in accomplishing the long, difficult task and the huge tree which had defied the 

 •Tales of hundreds of years, fell with a resounding crash to the earth. We hastened to tlui 

 nest which had evidently been occupied for years, for it contained at least a cart-load of 

 sticks, many of which were decayed. In falling, the material had become somewhat scat- 

 tered and upon pulling it over, we discovered two downy young, about the size of a com- 

 mon fowl, both of which were dead, having been killed by the shock. It may be assured 

 that I was not very much pleased with the result of this method of investigating the con- 

 tents of Eagles' nests and I have never since taken the trouble to cut down a tree in which 

 these birds had placed their domiciles. 



"When the nest is approached, the parent Eagles do not exhibit any great degree of so- 

 licitude, merely flying about at long rifle range and uttering a hai-sh cackling note. They 

 have a singular h;ibit of dropping, at such times, when shot at and uninjured, just as if 

 they had been hit, and I have seen a female turn over sevenil times, almost exactly like a 

 Tumbler Pigeon. The male is particularly shy; in fact, he will often leave the vicinity 

 when he perceives an intiiider. 



On the eighth of March, I obtained young partly fledged at South Lake and on the 

 nineteenth cf the same month, saw the young sitting outside the nest; although they were, 

 fully fledged and as large as their parents, they were unable to fly but maije frequent ef- 

 forts to rise in air, balancing themselves on one foot, while they flapped their wings vio- 

 lently, but they could not evidently muster sufficient courage to launch out. 



I have intimated that (he White-headed Eagles occupy the same nest for years, and 

 that they also guard it throughout the year, may be seen Ity the following instance. On 

 the twentieth of April, I discovered a nest built in a solitary pine which stood on the north 

 end of Merritt's Island and, as the Eagles were flying about it, uttering the cackling note 

 of alarm, 1 concluded that they had eggs, so I laboriously ascended to the nest which was 

 at kast fifty feet in air with but few intervening branches. When under the nest, however, 

 I found that I could not get into it, as it was, at least, six feet in diameter and projected 

 out over my head like a shelf. So I descended, but as the Eagles still continued to fly about 

 and exhibit every mark of anxiety, I once more went up to their domicile and, after great 

 exin'titms, succeetled in tearing away a portion of the nest so tliat I could look into it, 

 wlien I found, much to ray disgust, that it contained nothing but fish bones, the young- 

 having evidently left some time previous; in short, when I once more reached the ground, 

 I saw them, in company with their parents, circling around the place and since that time, 

 I have observed Eagles behaving in a similar manner late in the season. 



As will be seen by the foregoing account, the nests are not very easy to get into, oven 

 when one succeeds in reaching them. I once ascended to a nest placed in a dead tree on 

 one of those small keys which lie on the extreme south coast of Florida, and after making 

 considerable effort, succeeded, by the aid of a limb, in getting into, or rather, on to the 

 top. I f lumi a perfectly flat platform, about six feet in diameter, solid in structure, where 

 I could stand upriglit or even move about. It was empty, and after spentiing some time 

 in exaiuiniug the a.'.j icent country, of which my elevated situation aflbrded an excellent 



