The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-05-31
FISHING or THE BIRDS.
Some OF Them Exceedingly ENpert-The
Fish EAGLE Only a BunEler.

1t Is easy 1Of man ABROAD WIFI lou
and line on some still tree-fringed lake
10 understand how the loon, the hell-diver,
the kngfisher and such birds make a living
They are all expert anglers with their own
peculiar outfits and understand how to Use
them to perfection.
The hell-diver does not pretend to tackle
ANYTHING but very small fishes, minnows
mostly and it eats good many things that
it finds in the mud.
The loon is powerful and fast swimmer
and one Of the greatest of all great divers.
1t thinks nothing of going TO tie botto m
of lake fifty feet deep, and when IT gets
after a small bass or perch or croppie that
particular fish is in for very unpleasant
three minutes. The loon catches and eats
fish all day, being almost an unfailing pur-
suer and one of the most destructive of al!
birds which prey upon fish life.
The kingfisher, small. active and blue, can
not swim a stroke. but it Is diver to depth
OF foot and ii makes up in experiences what
II lacks in amphibiousness. Perched upon
a branch which overhangs the water, with
it's head turned to one side and its eye
cooked like parrots, it sees everything
which passes below and darts downward
at frequent intervals
1t is after surface fish, minnows. clubs.
dace and such things, seldom capturing
anything more than three inches long.
The kingfisher is successful about once in
three times which is very good average for
a non-water bird, and as II is very indus
trious it gets plenty for itself and its sitting
mate and later for the young in the nest
among the sedges by the lakes edge 4
man who watches small gulls flying and
diving over lake will find that they do not
average more than one kill to six dives and
the kingiisher has them clearly out cassed.
No angler though, ever has understood
how the great fsh-eagle gets along This
and big body, needs much food. More
over, except in late fall and winter, 1t has
always a brood Of squalling young that
are Unsuitable.
Bot h the male and the female fish for the
nest, but it is mystery how they manage
TO obtain enough for themselves, let alone
the youngsters. The tish-eagle cannot
swim: 1t cannot dive: it is slow of flight;
1t cannot pick up anything with its heak,
The kingtisher hits the water spear-bill
downward like flash OF blue and white
light, but the fisheagle, ponderous, cum
brous and deliberative, has no depend en-
tirely upon its talons. Ii flies slowly over
the lake at a height OF ten to twenty yards.
Seeing a fish near the surface it lowers
itself above it, drops its legs down for six
in he effort to grasp,
While it is doing this its great wings are
pounding the air to keep 1t aloft. Nobody
knows what would happen if it fell in.
more awkward take -a-chance-anyhow fish
erman does not exist.
II would seem that any fish with an atom
OF sense would get out of the way, since
unquestionably plenty of time is Afforded.
bass idling on the surface and seeing the
great shadow descending would easily
orlo bait ha. tnr Nln
talons were let down,
In fact, the man who has seen fish
eagle catch fish is rare, though every
angler has seen II try lots OF times
The eagle after one of these attempts gets
aloft awkwardly for n hundred feet or so,
then takes perch on some dead tree over
looking the water and apparently thinks
about it for while. resolving to do better.
Then 1t lakes wing and goes through it's
opera bouffe chase once more
Eagles do catch fish, for now and then
about sunset one is seen w;ngng its way
toward the nest with a handsome bass or
pike in its claws, but the prey must have
a good deal Of scavenger, and probably
much of its sustenance is gained in cleaning
up dead fish.
Lots of them are killed and not eaten
by other fish. Often a muskalonge or
big bass will hit q smaller swimmer and kill
II when its own NAV is gorged' and the
dead thing floats away, The fish-eagle
takes it in almost any stage Of decom-
position.
The most frequent victims to ravenous
game fishes belong to the class of suckers.
They are slow and get OUT into deep water
often. and there they meet fate. II man
sees big fat sucker floating belly upward,
with cash in it, he may know that muska'
longe, pike. pickarel or bass has been at
work. II he looks for the body of the
sucker the next day he will not find it. The
fish-eagle will have been along.