Bald Eagle does not place its nest at or 

 near the top of a tree, but some distance 

 below it, though always fifty or more feet 

 above the ground. 



The time for egg-laying varies in dif- 

 ferent localities. In Alaska the eggs are 

 deposited in March and April, while in 

 Florida they may be found from Novem- 

 ber to February. The eggs are generally 

 two in number, although three are occa- 

 sionally laid and the incubation occupies 

 thirty-six days. It is interesting to note 

 the time of year in which young birds 

 may be found in different parts of North 

 America. In Labrador, for example, the 

 young are not able to leave the nest until 

 July, while in Florida they are able to 

 fly about the first week of April. This 

 Eagle is an arrant coward and will desert 

 its nest, even if there be young in it, at 

 the approach of danger, and will not 

 return until all evidence of danger is past. 

 To offset this weakness of character, the 

 Bald Eagle is said to exhibit great con- 

 jugal felicity, a pair mating for life and 

 frequently living throughout their lives 

 in the same locality. 



The food of the Bald Eagle consists 

 essentially of fish, and it is said that when 

 fishes are common it will feed upon noth- 

 ing else. In localities where fishes are 

 not abundant its food consists of ducks, 

 geese, gulls and other sea and shore birds ; 

 young mammals, such as lambs, pigs, 

 fawns, squirrels, prairie dogs and any 

 other mammals small enough to be cap- 

 tured and carried away. In some sec- 

 tions of the country, notably in New 

 York and Pennsylvania, this bird has at 

 times become a destructive pest, killing 

 and carrying off numbers of lambs and 

 pigs. In the Southern States it feeds 

 largely upon water fowl, and its method 

 of capturing its prey is almost unique. 

 When near its quarry it will quickly fly 

 beneath, turn upside down and sink its 

 sharp and powerful talons into the vic- 

 tim's breast. 



The Bald Eagle is a noted pirate and 

 its attacks upon the fish hawk or osprey 

 are famous (or, rather, infamous). It 

 watches the osprey while that persevering 

 fisherman works honestly to catch a fish. 

 As soon as one is caught and the osprey 

 has fairly won the prize, the Eagle 

 swoops down and, because of his greater 



size and strength, robs the osprey of his 

 hard-earned quarry. 



This aerial tragedy is thus graphically 

 described by Wilson, in his American 

 Ornithology : 



"Formed by nature for braving the 

 severest cold ; feeding equally upon the 

 produce of the sea and of the land ; pos- 

 sessing powers of flight capable of out- 

 stripping even the tempests themselves, 

 * * * he appears indifferent to the 

 little change of localities or seasons ; as, 

 in a few minutes, he can pass from sum- 

 mer to winter, from the lower to the 

 higher regions of the atmosphere, the 

 abode of eternal cold, and thence descend 

 at will to the torrid or the arctic regions 

 of the earth. He is therefore found at 

 all seasons in the countries he inhabits, 

 but prefers such places as have been men- 

 tioned above, from the great partiality 

 he has for fish. 



"In procuring these he displays, in a 

 very singular manner, the genius and 

 energy of his character, which is fierce, 

 contemplative, daring, and tyrannical, — 

 attributes not exerted but on particular 

 occasions, but when put forth, overpow- 

 ering all opposition. Elevated on' the 

 high dead limb of some gigantic tree that 

 commands a wide view of the neighbor- 

 ing shores and ocean, he seems calmly to 

 contemplate the motions of the various 

 feathered tribes that pursue their busy 

 avocations below, — the snow-white gulls 

 slowly winnowing the air ; the busy 

 tringas coursing along the sands ; trains 

 of ducks streaming over the surface ; 

 silent and watchful cranes, intent and 

 wading; clamorous crows, and all the 

 winged multitudes that subsist by the 

 bounty of this vast liquid magazine of 

 nature. High over all these hovers one 

 whose action instantly arrests his whole 

 attention. By his wide curvature of wing 

 and sudden suspension in air, he knows 

 him to be the fish hawk, settling over 

 some devoted victim of the deep. His 

 eye kindles at the sight; and, balancing 

 himself, with half-opened wings, on the 

 branch, he watches the result. Down, 

 rapid as an arrow, from heaven, descends 

 the distant object of his attention ; the 

 roar of its wings reaching the air as it 

 disappears in the deep, making the surges 

 foam around. At this moment, the eager 

 looks of the Eagle are all ardor; and 



235 



