R~U,S,N. 



7/29/32 



But the "bald eagle doesn't have to have help in getting his ducks, 

 usually catching them when they have dived to escape. The eaele waits until 

 the duck comes up, then swoops again. He keep Si that up, until the duck, 

 tired out, falls an easy prey. 



Besides having speed as a flyer. Dr. Oherholser says that the eagle 

 can soar as well as the turkey "buzzard. There is hardly any greater 

 conpliraent on soaring ability than that. 



• 



In addition, this charter member of our air service is remarkable at 

 zooming. He can shoot down from far aloft so fast that you can hardly see him. 



TThen he comes up again he may be lifting considerable weight. An 

 American eagle has been known to carry a lamb weighing almost as much as itself 

 as far as five miles. 



Yes, he does sometimes attack domestic livestock, usually lambs or 

 young pigs. But his chief food is fish. Upland game birds are seldom bothered. 

 He doesn't trouble song birds. He does kill squirrels, rabbits, and rats. 

 He has been known to attack human beings. 



That' s very seldom. He rarely does it unless provoked to it. Dr. 



Oberholser points out that when not molested, our American eagle is surprisingly 



tame and unsuspicio\is. TThen it comes to the matter of defending the nest, 

 however, he shows considerable courage. 



That nest is quite a remarlcable home, and the bald eagle is consider- 

 able of a home-body, ^nen eagles mate, they apparently mate for life. They 

 usually build their nest high in the top of a tall tree. If no suitable tree 

 is handy, they ordinarily build on a high cliff or bluff. 



The nest is usually a wonderfully strong, substantial structure wherever 

 they build it, and it is quite sizable. About five feet across, and maybe 

 six feet deeo, and so strong that a man can walk on it without breaking through. 

 Sticks two or three inches thick are used. Such a huge nest high in the top 

 of the tallest pine may often be seen for miles. 



Both parent birds take shifts in hatching the eggs and tal<:ing care of 

 the young. There were equal rights in the eagle' s aerie long before the 

 19th Amendment. 



The families in these sky-scraper apartments are usually small. There 

 are generally two, sometiues three, eggs. The eaglets stay in the nest for 

 three or four months after they are hatched. When young they don't have those 

 white feathers on the head which give that bald appearance. The older birds are 

 the bald ones. 



Old Baldy, or Old Glory, or whatever you call this typical American, has 

 no con^^etitor in the air and no enemies, except man. 



*Hr4r>|i«4i 



AIJIIOUTICEIJIITT ; Our TTildanan has Just been telling us about the Ainerican Bald 

 Eagle in his native haunts. This is one of our bi-weekly series with Uncle 



Sam's Naturalists. This feature is presented by Station in cooperation 



with the United States Department of Agriculture. 



