Kites, Hawks, Eagles, etc. 



ents, the fluffy white brood appear; but, although they grow 

 rapidly, it is fully two months before they leave the eyrie. Just 

 as soon as they can fly and secure a living, the old birds cast 

 them off. They are three years in perfecting their plumage, it is 

 said, and they may live a century. 



Bald Eagle 



(Halixtus leucocephalus) 



Called also: WHITE-HEADED EAGLE; WASHINGTON 

 EAGLE; AMERICAN EAGLE; BALD SEA EAGLE. 



Length — Male 30 to 33 inches; female 35 to 40 inches. 



Male and Female — Head, neck, and tail white; after third year 

 rest of plumage dusky brown, the feathers paler on edges; 

 bill and feet yellow; legs bare of feathers. Immature birds 

 are almost black the first year ("black eagles "); the bases of 

 feathers white; bill black. Second year they are "gray 

 eagles " and are then actually larger than adults. The third 

 year, they come into possession of "bald" heads and white 

 tails. 



Range — North America, nesting throughout range. 



Season — Permanent resident. 



Emblem of the republic, standing for freedom to enjoy life, 

 liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, it must be owned that our 

 national bird is a piratical parasite whenever he gets the chance. 

 "The majority of the Falconidce. have an attractive physique and 

 superior strength as well as a haughty bearing," says Mr. Cham- 

 berlain. "They are handsome, stalwart ruffians, but they are 

 nothing more. They are neither the most intelligent nor most 

 enterprising of birds, nor the bravest. They are not even the 

 swiftest or most dexterous on the wing; and in bearing, proudly 

 as they carry themselves, are not supreme." With every pro- 

 vision of nature for noble deeds: keenest sight, superb strength, 

 hardihood, fully developed wings, it is seldom that the American 

 eagle obtains a bite to eat in a legitimate way, but almost 

 invariably by stratagem and plunder. Near the sea and other 

 large bodies of water he sits in majesty upon a cliff, or on the 

 naked limb of some tree commanding a wide view, and watches 

 the osprey — a conspicuous sufferer — and other water fowl course 



326 



