218 NESTS AND EGGS OF 



[350.] HARPY EAGLE. Thrascrtos harpyia Linn. Geog. Dist.— Lower Rio 

 Grande Valley, casual; south to Paraguay. Louisiana (?). 



The late Maj. Bendire says in his "Life Histories of North American Birds": 

 "The Harpy Eagle, if not the largest, is certainly the most powerful of all the birds 

 of prey found on the American continent, and can only be considered as a straggler, 

 having been noticed in the Lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas. No specimens have 

 as yet been taken within our borders. It breeds in Southern Mexico and thence 

 southward as far as Bolivia and Southern Brazil." According to the authority of Dr. 

 Felix Oswald, this bird attacks and kills large turkeys, young fawns, sloths, full- 

 grown foxes and badgers, middle-sized pigs and even the black Sapayou monkey 

 (Ateles paniscusj, whose size and weight exceed its own more than three times. 

 The Harpy Eagle's nesting place is amongst the highest branches of the tallest 

 forest trees and the more inaccessible rocks of the foothills. The nest is composed 

 of dry sticks and moss, lichens, etc. The eggs, four or five in number, but according 

 to Dr. Oswald the birds never hatch more than two. They are white, with yellow- 

 ish-brown dots and washes; about as long, but not quite as heavy as a hen's egg. 

 Maj. Bendire says: "Judging from the size of several specimens of the Harpy Eagla 

 in the U. S. National Museum collection, the egg of this species should at least be 

 as large as that of the Golden vEagle (Aquila chryswtus), and in fact considerablT' 

 larger. I have been unable to find a correct description of the egg of this species." 



[351.] GRAY SEA EAGLE. Baliwetus albicilla (Linn.) Geog. Dist.— North- 

 ern portions of Europe and Asia; Greenland. 



A large dusky-brown species known as the White-tailed or Gray Sea Eagle. In- 

 cluded in our North American fauna upon its occurrence in the south and southeast- 

 ern coasts of Greenland, where It is common, nesting in all suitable places. It is 

 common to the sea coasts of Europe and is rarely found Inland. Breeds on the 

 coasts of Great Britain; its most favorite haunts being the shores and islands of the 

 northern and western coasts of Scotland; the Hebrides, Orkney and Shetland Islands, 

 where it nests on the rocky cliffs projecting out over the water. The nests are made 

 of sticks or seaweed. Trees are also resorted to, though much less frequently. 

 This Eagle also breeds on the coasts of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, and those 

 of Russia. The eggs are two or three in number, plain white, but occasionally 

 ■with small faint spots of light brown, rounded ovate in shape. The average size of 

 twenty-four eggs in Mr. Crandall's collection (of one to three eggs to a set re- 

 spectively) is 2.92x2.29. These were all taken in Southern Russia and on the coast 

 of Sweden between February 28 and April 20. There are seven sets of three eggs, 

 one of two and one of one. The largest egg measures 3.10x2.32, the smallest 2.64z 

 2.19. Mr. Crandall states that some of the eggs are considerably pointed. 



352. BALB EAGLE. Haliceetus leucocephalus (Linn.) Geog. Dist. — ^Whole of 

 North America, south to Mexico. 



This great bird is common everywhere in North America. It passes through 

 three stages of plumage; the first year the young are very dark-colored and are er- 

 roneously called "Black Eagles," the second they are "Gray Eagles," and are usually 

 larger than the old birds. The residence of the White-headed Eagle is greatly In- 

 fluenced by the abundance of food, especially that of fish. It is found as far north 

 as the Arctic Circle, and south as far as Florida and Texas. Breeds in the Interior 

 Arctic regions on the borders of lakes and rivers. Not an uncommon summer resi- 

 dent tn Labrador, and breeds from thence southward along the Atlantic coast to 



