The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-07-23
The Bald Eagles Bad Habits

will take shelter beneath the water.
diving repeatedly and putting only the TIP
OF the bill out Of the water. When there
u slight ripple on the surftc, TINS r,ise
Ia usually successful, for the duck VIII WORK
further and further away from tbs hunter.
In open water wounded duck managed
to elude me, and after an hour's search
gave up the chase and continued on down
stream. had gone about quarter OF mIe
when I saw an eagle flying up the river
locality. no this one was watched closely,
As ne sailed over the spot where tho
wounded duck should DO he began to circle;
With each revolution he came nearer and
nearcr the surface until ne S was % only niey
down and almost dipped into the water
before turning and rising; Mounting IN
the air, he continued to circle over the spot
and then dived again. instantly came
e TIE SoneAon that the we si,e5
soon reached spot where could watch
the proceedln g.. -,
Each time the ducks head appeared the
eagle swooped at ", and as ne came
near the. duck Owed, whereupon the eagle
until his prey again appeared He gave
the duck no time to rest, but attacked 1t
instantly. Its periods beneath the water
became shorter and shorter. Undoubtedly
the eagle. would have been successful had
out. on the Ice. whereupon he took fright
and made Oh.
or the two birds, the golden eagle rather
than the bald eagle should have been chosen
as the emblem Of the United States. ny lar
the larger and more noble bird In appear;
ance 1t is less Of a scavenger than the bald
eagle: ..,o. 49,. ana. =, ..h., poShtv
Mountain and shyer than the bald eagle,
the golden eagle Is known intimately only
. 10 ,,y1 tnrx, ND ~.
1t is a common sight to see four or more Of
these beautiful birds sailing gracefully
over the arroyos and bad lands 81 the
| West or the high crests Of the Rockies or
the Sierra Nevadas or the Cascade Mount
aims. :.
While hunting in the Canadian Rockies OF
Alberta have watched pair of these birds
for hours as they scared along the steep
mountain cliffs, evidently hunting for rab-
bits or lambs Of the Rocky Mountain sheep
| and goat.
The golden eagles food consists Of small
animals and birds. In the sheep raising dis
| tricts he is very destructive to domestic
lambs. and in the mountain regions he Is
one Of the worst enemies the mountain eSarI !,
little doubt that full grown deer, ante
lope, sheep or goat could ward on the
attacks Of an eagle, these birds have way
Of appearing around a rock when they are
least expected, and before the mother ths ,I IL
dWdEo "a no PlSSSHcV ~ ih'o 'iiNsSAS~ ~
her offspring and flown away,
In the summer of 1901, while was In
Alaska capturing white sheep for the New
York Geological Park, had an experience
with eagles which illustrated how easily
they could capture young lambs. !.
We had caught and were carrying
lamb from the crags, thousands OF fSet
above the valley, to our camp. inc
little fellow was being conveyed in sack
swung from the neck of my guide. We
had halted for few minutes rest at q
particularly steep and rugged clih. and
were about to continue when an eagle
suddenly appeared, flying along the side
Of the mountain close to the face OF the
cliff. On seeing us the huge bird quickened
its flight. called to my guide and we
both watched its approach. When ahout
hundred yards away it suddenly bowed
its wings and made straight at the guice.
Nearer and nearer it came like an arrow;
its sharp wings cut through the air like the
hum OF bullet, while we. too surprised to
act, expected every instant that the bird
would change it's course.
But it did not. / saw my guide tighten
his grip on the sack that held the lamb
and knew then that he had come to the
conclusion that the eagle really Intended
to snatch the lamb from his grasp. When
not more than ten feet from the man the
eagle turned suddenly upward, missed the
guide by only few feet, and then CON
tinued It's flight along the mountainside
| as quickly as it had appeared.