EAGLES, HAWKS, AND VULTURES 



87 



BALD EAGLE 



{Haliaeetus lencocephalus) 



Our national bird, the bald eagle, chosen 

 in the early days of the Union, is figured 

 on many of our coins, is a favored design 

 in matters of patriotic interest, and in 

 general is considered symbolic of our free- 

 dom. Its enormous size and the striking 

 markings of the adult make it a promi- 

 nent species that is noted on every ap- 

 pearance. A bird of great strength and 

 of swift and powerful flight, it is master 

 in its haunts and has no potent enemies 

 except man. Its life is led in the vicinity 

 of water and only casually is it found 

 far from that element. 



The food of the bald eagle is mainly 

 fish. In Alaska severe complaint has been 

 made that it destroys salmon during their 

 annual runs up the streams to deposit their 

 eggs. As the salmon cross shallow bars 

 or cascades, leaping from pool to pool, 

 there is no question that many are taken 

 by eagles. 



Elsewhere the eagle often fishes by 

 plunging from a height, descending at an 

 angle on its selected prey, sometimes go- 

 ing beneath the surface. Rarely it grapples 

 prey so large that it cannot rise with it and 

 is under necessity of towing it to shore. 

 This eagle also robs the osprey, being 

 fiercely predatory in such encounters. 



Large birds are sometimes captured, in- 

 cluding ducks, coots, and geese. Although 

 the eagle is sufficiently swift to seize them 

 in flight, it ordinarily gives chase on the 

 water, where it is able to tire them by forc- 

 ing them to dive until they become ex- 

 hausted. 



Although the bald eagle is said to feed 

 on healthy birds, my own experience with 

 it has been principally that it is constantly 

 in pursuit of birds crippled by shooting 

 or injured in some other way. 



During the hunting season I have often 

 seen an eagle swing over rafts of ducks, 

 which it scatters. Then, if cripples ap- 

 pear, they are pursued, and if none is 

 sighted the eagle passes on to other hunt- 

 ing. The taking of such injured birds can 

 hardly be condemned. These eagles have 

 been said on occasion to kill lambs and 

 foxes, the latter furnishing an indication 

 of the birds' strength. 



In addition to living food, the bald eagle 

 is prone to search for carrion, following 

 regularly along shores for dead fish cast 



up on the beaches, and eating dead animals 

 of other kinds as they offer. Because of 

 this habit, many words of opprobrium 

 have been hurled at it. 



There was much discussion before the 

 bald eagle was finally adopted as our Na- 

 tion's emblem by act of Congress on June 

 20, 1782 ; Benjamin Franklin in particular 

 favored the wild turkey. In spite of all 

 that may be said against it, however, it 

 must be conceded that the bald eagle is a 

 bird of fine and noble appearance and that 

 it is a master of the air. 



EAGLES GO IN EOR NEST-BUILDING ON A 

 LARGE SCALE 



The nests of the bald eagle are large 

 structures of sticks, usually placed in trees, 

 often at a considerable height, though occa- 

 sionally on cliffs, or even directly on the 

 ground. Nests 5 to 6 feet in diameter and 

 the same in height are not unusual, and 

 nests 12 feet high have been recorded. 

 Herrick found that one near Vermilion, 

 Ohio, was used continuously for thirty- 

 four years.* 



Ordinarily two eggs are laid, with occa- 

 sional sets of three or one. They are white, 

 very rarely with slight markings of buffy 

 brown. Where two eggs are laid, one is 

 nearly always larger than the other. In- 

 cubation requires nearly a month, the duty 

 being shared by both parents. The young 

 remain in the nest for about two and a half 

 months, and during that time the old birds 

 are most solicitous of their welfare and 

 safety. 



The young bald eagles do not attain the 

 plumage of the adult for three years, and 

 during the first year they are actually 

 larger than their parents. 



The southern bald eagle, Haliaeetus leu- 

 cocephalus lencocephalus, nests from the 

 northern United States to Baja Califor- 

 nia, central Mexico, and Florida. The 

 northern bald eagle, Haliaeetus leucoceph- 

 alus alascanus, breeds from northwestern 

 Alaska and British Columbia to the Great 

 Lakes and Nova Scotia, coming in winter 

 south to Washington, Montana, and Con- 

 necticut. 



A related species, the gray sea eagle, 

 Haliaeetus albicilla, is resident in Green- 

 land, and is found also in Europe and 

 northern Asia. 



* See "The Eagle in Action," by Francis H. 

 Herrick, in the National Geographic Maga- 

 zine for May, 1929. 



