2 3 6 



The Falcon-like Birds 



feet, while the females are from thirty-four to forty-three inches in length and 

 have a spread of wings of between seven and eight feet. 



It is quite commonly supposed that the Bald Eagle is more or less of a robber 

 and tyrant, feeding largely on fish stolen from the Osprey, and on carrion, but 

 this, according to that most excellent of authorities, Major Bendire, is not strictly 

 true. He says: "According to my observations the Bald Eagle lives, to a large 

 extent at least, on prey captured by its own exertions, principally on wounded 

 water fowl. When employed in the chase of a flock of Geese, Brant, Ducks, 



or other water birds, it is by no means the 

 sluggish, lazy bird some writers would make 

 us believe, but the peer in swiftness, dash, 

 and grace of any of our Raptores." They 

 nest principally in the vicinity of the sea 

 or some large body of water, placing the 

 nest usually on a large tree. "The nests," 

 according to Dr. Ralph, who writes espe- 

 cially of their habits in Florida, " are immense 

 structures, from five to six feet in diameter 

 and about the same in depth, and so strong 

 that a man can walk around in one without 

 danger of breaking through. They are com- 

 posed of sticks, some of which are two or 

 three inches thick, and lined with marsh 

 grass or some similar material." The eggs 

 are usually two in number, though occa- 

 sionally one and quite rarely three are found. 

 They are uniformly white, without markings, 

 and about three inches long by two and 

 one fourth in short diameter. The young 

 appear to remain for several months in the 

 nest. 



The Bald Eagle displays great fondness for its home, and while it may not 

 often actually attack an intruder, even when robbed of eggs or young, it returns 

 again and again to the same site ; and when one of the pair is killed, the other 

 apparently invariably secures a new mate and resorts to the same nest. Of 

 the local races above mentioned, one (H. leucocephalus hypoleucus) is found 

 on Bering Island, and the other (H. L alascanus) in Alaska. 



The Gray Sea Eagle, or White-tailed Eagle (H. albicilla}, also a bird of magnifi- 

 cent size, is found mainly throughout the western portions of the Eastern Hemi- 

 sphere, and can only lay claim to being North American from its occasional 

 presence in southwestern Greenland. It is distinguished from the former species 

 by the head and neck being a light grayish brown or brownish gray instead 

 of white, and the general 'coloration less dark. This species formerly nested 

 in England, but they now no longer breed on the mainland, and only one or 

 two pairs are known to inhabit even the outlying islands. It has, says Hudson, 



FIG. 77. Bald Eagle, Haliaetus leuco- 

 cephalus. 



