The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1905-08-12
THE BALD EAGLES BAD HABITS.

sad to relate, the original of our ma
tional emblem is scavenger, cow
ard and thief. Fish is his principal
diet, and as he can catch them under
only the most favorable circumstances
he picks up those that have been
washed ashore or he robs his feath-
cred neighbors. His lack of courage
is seen when he attempts to molest
his nest. Almost as soon as the in
truder begins to ascend the tree or
cliff the male eagle sails off into space,
leaving his wife to protect her off
spring. Even she does not show as
much bravery as the average small
bird.
Although the bald eagle will cap
ture and eat poultry, game birds,
small mammals aud the young of
sheep and goats, he will live on fish
entirely when fish are to be had.
Taking a place in dead tree trunk
high above the water, the eagle
watches the valley until he sees fish
hawk or osprey capture fish. Then,
waiting until it has mounted in the
air, he sallies forth. He is a strong
hier, and the fish hawk, burdened by
its load, is soon overtaken. Then
begins a battle in midair. Battle
though it may seem to be, the real OBJ
ject of the eagle is merely to frighten
the fish hawk so that it will drop its
prey, which it quickly does, realizing
that in order to protect itself it must
have the free use Of its claws. The
instant the fish is released the robber
scoops down and catches it in midair,
then bears it off to his perch.
Speaking generally, the bald eagle
is found over the entire northern
hemisphere. 1t is very common in
Florida and the adjacent large islands,
but it is most abundant along the
coast and about the mouths of the
rivers of southern Alaska. Attracted
in the summer by the salmon that
swarm from the ocean into shallow
fresh water streams, the eagles gather
in great numbers and fish, snatching
fish from the water as they founder
over the shallow rifles.
It is not unusual to see twenty-five
or fifty eagles perched on the rocks
or tree trunks about the mouth of
one of these Alaska streams, and as
they are seldom shot by hunters they
become very tame, permitting one to
approach within fifty or a hundred
feet of them. On the way from Ju-
neat to Admiralty Island, while en-
tering a narrow pass between two
islands, counted thirty-four eagles
at one time. One noticeable thing
was that there were few immature
birds among them, nearly all having
the white head and tail, which do not
appear until after the birds are three
years old.
Raising blue foxes is one of the in
dustries in the parts of Alaska where
eagles are common, and here they are
injurious to man. The foxes are
bred on islands situated so far from
the mainland that there is no chance
of their escaping. During the spring,
when the young foxes are about one
third or half grown, the eagles cap
ture many of them, so many, in fact,
that the fox raising companies offer
a bounty of so cents for the head of
every eagle killed in that vicinity.
Now and then the eagle will at
tempt to rob the human hunter of his
prey. Many man has had wounded
and dead waterfowl snatched from
beneath his very eyes during the few
minutes he had left his gun in the
blind while he went out in the boat
to gather up his game.
One fall while hunting golden eye
ducks on the Susquehanna River at
Owego, N. Y, 1 had an experience
of this kind. After long, arduous
stalk, arrived within shooting dis.
tance Of the game, killed one duck
and wounded another. These ducks
are very expert divers and when
wounded will take shelter beneath
the water, diving repeatedly and put
ting only the tip of the bill out of the
water. When there is slight ripple
on the surface this ruse is usually sue
cessful, for the duck will work further
and further away from the hunter.
In open water a wounded duck
managed to elude me, and after an
hours search gave up the chase and
continued on down stream. l had
gone about quarter of mile when
l saw an eagle flying up the river
high in the air. Eagles are rare in
this locality, so this one was watched
closely.
As he sailed over the spot where
the wounded duck should be he began
to circle. With each revolution he
came nearer and nearer the surface
until he was only fifty feet above the
water. Then he darted 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. / in
stantly came to the conclusion that
the eagle was after the duck, so /
hurried back over the ice and soon
reached spot where could watch
the proceedings.
Each time the duck S head appeared
the eagle swooped at it, and as he
came near the duck dived, whereupon
the eagle would rise quickly, circle
over the spot until his prey again ap-
peared. He gave the duck no time
to rest, but attacked it instantly. Its
periods beneath the water became
shorter and shorter. Undoubtedly
the eagle would have been successful
had I not made my presence known
by walking out on the ice, whereupon
he took fright and made off.
OF the two birds, the golden eagle
rather than the bald eagle should
have been chosen as the emblem of
the United States. BY far the larger