100 THE HAWKS AND OWLS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Eagle on the St. Johns River, Florida, which for a period of four or five 

 months made two trips a day to the river for the purpose of obtaining 

 coots (Fulica), which it always captured with little difficulty. (Bull. 

 Nutt. Ornith. Club, vol. VI, 1881, pp. 58-60.) 



Considerable has been written by the earlier writers about Bald 

 Eagles attacking and carrying off children. We can find no recent 

 record of such an occurrence — except newspaper trash — so give the fol- 

 lowing from Wilson, which seems trustworthy: " A woman who hap- 

 pened to be weeding in the garden had set her child down near, to 

 amuse itself, while she was at work, when a sudden and extraordinary 

 rushing sound, and a scream from her child, alarmed her, and, starting 

 up, she beheld the infant thrown and dragged some few feet, and a 

 large bald eagle bearing off a fragment of its frock, which being the 

 only part seized, and giving away, providentially saved the life of the 

 infant." (American Ornithology, vol. I, 1831, pp. 26-27.) 



What we have said in reference to the Golden Eagle applies equally 

 well to the bird under consideration, namely, that over the greater part 

 of the country where the natural food, fish in the present case, is 

 abundant it is a harmless bird and should be protected; while in sec- 

 tions where it ie injurious to sheep or other domesticated animals it 

 should not be allowed to become numerous. 



The nest, if this rude structure is entitled to such a name, is a great 

 mass of material in the shape of a platform, often 6 feet across and 3 or 

 4 feet in depth. It is composed of large sticks with more or less rubbish 

 added in the shape of plant stalks, seaweed, rushes, pieces of turf, vines, 

 and the like. The great majority of nests are placed in large trees, 

 though occasionally a shelf or projecting crag from the steep mountain 

 side is used for a site. The trees chosen are generally live ones of large 

 size, and the nest unlike that of the osprey is placed in a crotch some 

 distance from the top of the tree, from 50 to 60 feet above the ground. 



The eggs, which are usually two in number, though occasionally three 

 are found, are deposited at widely different times depending on lati- 

 tude. In Florida the birds begin to lay in November or early in 

 December, while in Alaska it is often April before full comple- 

 ments of eggs are found. In the same locality there is considerable 

 variation in the time at which different pairs breed. In proof of this 

 Dr. William L. Ealph, during two seasons, found twenty-six sets of eggs 

 of this bird along the Indian River, Florida, between November 25 and 

 February 1. The period of incubation is thirty-six days. Although 

 in Florida the young often leave the nest by the first of April, in Lab- 

 rador and the mountains of Washington it is nearly July before they 

 do the same. Like the Golden Eagle, the Bald Eagle makes no pretense 

 at guarding its eggs or young against intruders, but leaves the vicinity 

 at the first appearance of the collector and does not return until all 

 danger to itself is over. It is stated that a pair remain united through 

 life, always keeping in the general neighborhood and sharing the prod- 

 ucts of the chase together. 



