58 General Notes. 



turning back downward, thrusts its powerful talons up into its breast. A 

 Brant or Duck is carried off bodily to the nearest marsh or sand-bar, but 

 a Canada Goose is too heavy to be thus easily disposed of. The two great 

 birds fall together to the water beneath, where the Eagle literally tows his 

 prize along the surface until the shore is reached. In this way one has 

 been known to drag a large Goose for nearly half a mile. 



A single bird is usually seized at the first attempt, but Mr. Cobb has 

 seen an Eagle repeatedly miss his aim when in the midst of a large flock. 

 The very abundance of opportunities seems to bewilder him, and he thrusts 

 wildly and harmlessly in all directions ; but after the crowding masses have 

 become scattered by his onslaught, a separate individual is selected, and 

 quickly overtaken and killed. 



Although the larger and heavier Water-fowl are more likely to be at- 

 tacked, the royal bird seems to find little difficulty in overhauling the 

 swiftest flying Ducks. The latter, however, often escape by diving, al- 

 though in shallow water this resource sometimes proves of no avail, as the 

 Eagle follows their course, and seizes them as they rise near the surface. 

 Under favorable conditions even Grebes are sometimes captured. 



In winter shooting the sportsman loses many a wounded Goose or 

 Brant by the Eagles. They seem fully aware of the advantages to be gained 

 by maintaining a close espionage upon the gunner's movements, and a bird 

 that falls at any considerable distance from the stand is often seized and 

 borne away before it can be recovered. Universally hated as he is by all 

 the gunners of this island, the Eagle is not unfrequently killed by them in 

 the following curious manner. The " stools," or decoys, which are relied 

 upon to dupe the wary Water-fowl, sometimes deceive even the keen-eyed 

 bird of prey, and in his eagerness to secure one of the apparently unsus- 

 pecting flock he stoops upon a wooden victim, and is riddled by a fatal 

 discharge from the circle of sea-weed where the sportsman lies concealed. 

 On several occasions, when the marauder's approach did not happen to be 

 observed, Mr. Cobb has had a decoy lifted from the water and carried off 

 several yards before the Eagle discovered his mistake. 



In the course of my own experience I do not remember ever having 

 seen a Bald Eagle capture, or even pursue, a bird of any kind. The most 

 favorable opportunities for watching their habits have occurred in Maine, 

 where, about some of the larger lakes, I have observed them fishing in the 

 manner of the Osprey, and sometimes feeding upon dead and even putrid 

 fish which had been cast up along the shores. During the past season a 

 mortality occurred among the suckers in Lake Umbagog, and thousands 

 were left upon the marshes and flats by the receding water. The Eagles 

 assembled in such numbers that no less than twenty-five were counted 

 in one day. — William Breavster, Cambridge, Mass. 



Description of an unusual (?) Plumage of Buteo harlani. — 

 The National Museum having lately acquired a fine specimen of this 



