BIRDS OF NEW YORK 9 1 



Haliaeetus leucocephalus leucocephalus (Linnaeus) 

 Bald Eagle 



Plates 43 and 49 



Falco leucocephalus Linnaeus. Syst. Nat. 1766. Ed. 12. 1:124 

 Haliaetos leucocephalus DeKay. Zool. N. Y. 1844. pt 2, p. 3, fig. i 

 Haliaeetus leucocephalus leucocephalus A. 0. U. Check List. Ed. 3. 

 1910. p. 162. No. 352 



halicketus, sea eagle; leucocephalus, white-headed 



Description. Adult: Head, neck and tail white; rest of plumage 

 brownish black; bill and legs yellow; iris yellow. Immature: Nearly 

 uniform brownish black, more or less varied with white spots, mostly on 

 the under parts and tail; bill blackish; legs yellow; iris brown; during the 

 second and third years they show more white on the under parts and tail, 

 but are still of a prevailing blackish color. 



Length cf 31-34 inches, 9 35-37; extent cf 80-85, 9 85-90; wing d^ 

 21-23, ? 23-25; tail 11-13; bill 2.3-2.9; weight 8-12 pounds. 



Distribution. The Bald eagle, or its larger northern subspecies, 

 inhabits nearly the whole of North America north of Mexico, but prefers 

 the sea coast and regions of lakes and rivers. In New York it is still no 

 unusual sight to see eagles along the shores of Long Island, in the Hudson 

 valley, in the Adirondacks, along the Great Lakes, and in the central lake 

 country. They are commonest in spring and summer, but may be seen 

 at any time of year, mature birds, evidently not breeders, frequenting 

 such localities as Conesus lake, Canandaigua lake and Niagara river through- 

 out the spring and summer months. At latest accounts Bald eagles were 

 nesting near Sodus bay in Wayne county, Constantia in Oswego county, 

 Whelby pond in Dutchess county, and Indian lake and Taylor pond in the 

 Adirondacks. It formerly nested in many places along the shores of Long 

 Island, along the Hudson, the Great Lakes, the central lakes, the Adiron- 

 dack lakes and Lake Champlain, but constant persecution or the destruc- 

 tion of the nesting site has caused the abandonment of the majority of 

 these localities, and " the eagle tree," or the place where it stood, is 

 gradually passing from the memory of the nearest inhabitants. 



