414 THE BALD EAGLE. 



No. i86. 



BALD EAGLE. 



A. O. U. No. 352. Haliaeetus leucocephalus (Linn.). 



Synonyms. — Bird of Washington (young) ; Gray Eagle (second year 

 young) ; Black Eagle (first year young). 



Description. — Adult : Head and neck all around, and tail including coverts, 

 pure white ; remaining plumage grayish brown to brownish black ; with some 

 paler edging of feathers ; bill and feet yellow ; claws black. Immature, first year : 

 blackish with some outcropping white of cottony-based feathers; bill black; feet 

 yellow. Second year : grayish brown or dark brown, mottled somewhat irregu- 

 larly on wings and tail (centrally) with gray and white; acquiring adult char- 

 acteristics by end of third year. Second year birds are somewhat larger than 

 adults, "overgrown puppies", and were formerly described as Washington Eagles. 

 Science outgrew this ignorance as the nation outgrew its youth. Adult male 

 length 30.00-36.00 (762.-914.4) ; extent of wings seven feet; wing 21.00-26.00 

 (533.4-660.4); tail II. 50-15.00 (292.1-381.) ; culmen about 2.00 (50.8); tarsus 

 about 3.00 (76.2); middle toe and hind claw 2.75 (69.9). Adult female length 

 34.00-42.00 (863.6-1066.8) ; extent seven to eight feet; wing 24.00-28.00 (609.6- 

 71 1.2) ; tail 13.00-16.00 (330.2-406.4) ; culmen about 2.20 (55.9) ; tarsus about 

 3.50 (88.9) ; hind claw up to two inches (50.8). 



Recognition Marks. — Largest; white head and tail of adult; half-naked 

 tarsus distinctive in any plumage. 



Nest, a bulky platform of sticks high in trees, or, rarely, on cliffs, near 

 considerable bodies of water. Bggs, 2 or 3, dull white or pale bluish white, un- 

 marked but often nest-stained. Av. size, 2.89 x 2.25 (73.4 x 57.2). 



General Range. — North America at large, south to Mexico, northwest 

 through the Aleutian Islands to Kamchatka. Breeds locally throughout its range. 



Range in Ohio. — Rare resident. A few pairs breed along the shore of 

 Lake Erie; and one or two in the neighborhood of each large reservoir. 



AS I was standing once with a friend upon the dock at Lorain, an Eagle 

 was seen sailing overhead in calm majesty, and when we called the attention 

 of a by-stander to the occurrence, he at once became strangely excited. "An 

 Eagle! Is it? Oh, why don't somebody get after it ? Where's a gun ?" That's 

 ii. That is the typical American attitude toward the bird which is chosen as 

 the national emblem, and which, whatever its faults, is a bird of lofty bear- 

 ing and of most interesting habits. This man was really distressed to think 

 that any living thing so large as an Eagle should be allowed to pass unharmed. 

 "Here is an Eagle; kill it!" has been the rallying cry since gunpowder was 

 invented, and now we record only the poor remnants of bird life which the 

 mighty shooters of these flying barns have left us. 



