198 BIRDS 



is not acquired until the bird has attained the age of three 

 or four years. The birds remain paired for life. 



The eagles which sometimes wander from their regular 

 habitats and cause excitement in districts where seldom seen 

 are generally inmiature birds, foraging about the country. 

 The stories that they attack and carry off infants are 

 untrue, as in many ways the bird lacks the courage and dash 

 of the smaller raptors. 



Along the seacoasts the eagle frequently becomes a par- 

 asite, living upon the fish which the osprey captures ; while 

 some subsist mainly on dead fish cast up by the waves, 

 though in winter they feed extensively on waterfowl. This 

 bird has been selected as our national emblem. " Old Abe,'* 

 the war eagle carried through the Civil War by the Eighth 

 Wisconsin Regiment, is the most noted bird of history. 

 The flight of the eagle is strong and rapid ; it appears most 

 majestic when soaring in great circles high in air, while 

 uttering the noted piercing scream. 



The bald eagles are common in Florida, where they 

 begin nesting late in November, household duties claiming 

 their attention for many weeks. Their nests are massive 

 structures, sometimes a result of many years' accumulation, 

 since the birds annually add to the structure until some 

 nests are five feet in depth and as many feet across. 

 Sticks, corn husks, hay, and sod are used in the aerie, which 

 is slightly hollowed. Often the structure is situated in the 

 upright crotch of a large dead tree, near the top. Only 

 two or three pure white globular eggs are laid. 



The longevity of the eagle is very great, from eighty to 

 one hundred sixty years. 



