The Southern Bald Eagle 



Elsewhere the sport (?) lasted a little longer. A notorious collector 

 from the Bay Cities, ranging south by automobile as far as Ventura 

 County, is said to have taken fifty-two eggs of the Golden Eagle in a 

 single season, that of 1913, I believe. This was at a time when other 

 collectors were forbidden by law to molest Eagles' eggs. Another col- 

 lector, in the San Benito country, acquired a "personally taken" collec- 

 tion of some 150 sets, but as his work was carried on over a space of 

 twenty-five years and was accompanied by painstaking observation and 

 recording of notes, we have no word of censure — congratulation rather, 

 that so important a piece of work should have been well done at a time 

 when it could be done. And lest the writer be accused of pharisaism in 

 this regard, he records the fact here, December, 1922, that he has taken 

 exactly one set of Golden Eagles' eggs in California. It is enough. 



No. 338 



Southern Bald Eagle 



A. 0. U. No. 352. Haliaeetus leucocephalus leucocephalus (Linnaeus). 



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

 young). Black Eagle (first year young). White-headed Sea Eagle. 



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 irregularly on wings and tail 

 (centrally) with gray and white; acquiring adult characteristics 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. Nestling: Covered with grayish dusky down; a sprinkling 

 of longer white feathers, noticeably on sides of neck; black body feathers first appearing 

 on scapulars, notaeum and crown. Adult male: length 762-914.4 (30.00-36.00); extent 

 of wings seven feet; wing 533.4-660.4 (21.00-26.00); tail 292.1-381 (1 1. 50-15. 00) ; 

 culmen about 50.8 (2.00); tarsus about 76.2 (3.00); middle toe and hind claw 69.9 

 (2.75). Adult female: length 863.6-1066.8 (34.00-42.00); extent seven to eight feet; 

 wing 609.6-71 1.2 (24.00-28.00); tail 330.2-406.4 (13.00-16.00); culmen about 55.9 

 (2.20); tarsus about 88.9 (3.50); hind claw up to 50.8 (2.00). 



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

 distinctive in any plumage. 



Nesting. — Nest: A bulky platform of sticks high in trees, or variously, on 

 cliffs or headlands, near considerable bodies of water. Eggs: 2 or, rarely, 3; dull 

 white or pale bluish white, with fine granular surface, unmarked but often nest-stained. 

 Av. size 71.6 x 53.8 (2.82 x 2.127); index 75.3. Extremes 67.56-75.2 by 51.05-56.6 

 (2.66-2.96 by 2.01-2.23). Season: March 1st at sea level, April on interior lakes; 

 one brood. 



IJII 



