CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE NATTJBAL HISTOEY OF ALASKA. 159 



young for many years. This eagle is found as far westward as Attu, but does not breed there, 

 according to the natives. I saw one at a great height in October, 1880, and bringing a glass to 

 bear on it I could easily recognize it to be the Bald Eagle. This was the only instance of its 

 occurrence from July, 1880, to June, 1881. The white head and tail, with a different mode of 

 flight, enable one to distinguish it at a great distance. 



At Amchitka Island I saw several pairs of this bird in June, 1881. 



I was always on the lookout for H. alhicilla, but have come to the conclusion that it does not 

 occur on the Aleutian Islands. 



Bepeated inquiry among the traders, who had been long in the country, revealed to me that 

 when they had seen such birds as I most desired to learn the occurrence of, I found, on longer ac. 

 quaintance with them, that traders generally described an eagle that turned out to be a Cormorant 

 or Loon. 



The adult Bald Eagle is a fine looking bird and always in clean plumage. When in captivity 

 he is the most bedraggled object, with scarcely a clean feather on him. 



The food of this eagle is rather mixed, consisting of ptarmigans, ducks, and an occasional fish. 

 Any fish or bird that may be thrown dead on the beach is eagerly eaten by this eagle. I saw in 

 Kazan Bay, on Atkha Island, a pair of these eagles wrangling with dozens of gulls and several 

 ravens over the putrid carcass of a sea-lion. 



This bird is undoubtedly the origin of the " ha^gleV of the Eastern Aleuts, as it sometimes sits 

 on a hill top or open space and opens its wings to air them, or sits in such a strange position 

 that it is, at a distance, scarcely recognizable as a bird. The timid Aleut imagines it to be some 

 strange beast, which entices the victim within reach and disappears with it ; and, according to 

 their story, this beast turns out to be a man, who keeps the captive as his servant.* 



I once had occasion to ascend the top of a high hill near Iliuliuk village. When I was up 

 about 500 feethigh I saw something, off at what I thought to be but a comparatively short distance, 

 and supposed it to be a native hunting Eock Ptarmigan, L. ri(<pestris nelsoni Stejn. I hallooed for 

 the person to wait for me. I then passed round to another side of a spur and found the object had 

 disappeared, but soon saw it return, and found it to be a Bald Eagle, which looked as large as a 

 man ; for the difference in density of the atmosphere had magnified it, as I was much lower, that 

 when I arrived at the top of the mountain I saw what a great distance I had estimated as being 

 only a couple of hundred yards. When I first saw the bird I did not know that a terrible gale 

 was waiting my arrival at the top of the mountain. 



353. Falco islandus Briinn. White Gyrfalcon. 

 A single specimen of this Gyrfalcon was killed at Saint Michael's May 15, 1877. It is not a 

 common bird in this vicinity, and oftener seen in spring than at other seasons. 

 I could learn nothing about its habits. 



354a. Falco rtjsticolus gyrfalco (Linn.). Gyrfalcon. 



Several specimens of this Gyrfalcon were obtained in the vicinity of Saint Michael's, where it 

 is a constant resident, with probable exception during protracted periods of severe weather in 

 winter only. 



The natives assert that this bird breeds on the high hills, either on a rocky ledge or on the 

 moss-covered ground. 



I did not obtain eggs and nest of it. It is very active on the wing. Its food consists princi- 

 pally of Ptarmigans, which it seizes only when the prey is on the wing. I saw one capture an 

 adult male Ptarmigan in April, 1876. The Gyrfalcon struck the bird with its breast; and, as the 



* The tayglic stories of the Aleuts are a wonderful mixture of cunning and superstition. I think, however, the 

 earliest Russians made use of the expression (for in the Russian language the word means deserter, runaway) in all 

 its subsequent meanings, in order to deter their women, whom they had, in most instances, forced from their homes 

 and compelled to live with their hated mates, from deserting them and returning to their own people. At the present 

 day it is used as a "bugbear" to prevent the small children from wandering away. Many of the adults stoutly main- 

 tain that they have seen these apparitions. The Attu people do not use the expression only as they have heard of it 

 from their eastern relations. 



