1SS 
THE CONDOR 
Vol. XI 
ested in watching to see if this greater size of the female was accompanied by a 
corresponding courage when I invaded the nest; and in those cases where I had 
positive means of identification I usually found that it was the female that proved 
the most threatening, altlio she might be away from the nest hunting when the 
male gave the alarm. 
The dark bodies of the eagles blended very well with the dark green conifers 
in which they often percht; 
and the birds would have been 
past by many times had it not 
been for their white heads. 
This feature was the most use- 
ful recognition-mark about 
the bird, as it could be seen at 
three hundred yards, when 
the dark body could not be 
distinguisht from the sur- 
rounding foliage. We once 
saw more than fifteen eagles 
sitting in a single spruce tree 
waiting for a school of herring, 
and at a distance it appeared 
like a magnolia tree in blossom 
because only the white heads 
were discernible. 
In the early spring the 
feathers on the head and tail 
are clean and white, but as 
soon as the salmon begin to 
run they become greasy and 
yellowish from coming in con- 
tact with the fish when the 
bird is feeding. 
The plumage of these birds 
forms a very efficient protec- 
tion against the rain. I 
watclit one pair of birds during 
a storm that lasted a week; and 
altho it rained every day, the 
birds were able to care for 
their young. Most of their 
time, however, was spent 
perching in the top of a dead 
nest of northern bald eagle on admiralty spruce tree, since they hunted 
island, ALASKA very little during the storm. 
The molting period seems 
to extend over a considerable time in these birds, so that even in the midst of the 
molt they are apparently in good plumage. One bird that I secured in the middle 
of August, had two new primaries coming in on each wing, and several new second- 
aries were just beginning to show up among the other feathers. There were not so 
many new feathers coming in on the body; and judging from this individual, the 
