Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1921-02-15
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
SOUTH CAROLINA
NATURAL HISTORY
BY JAMES HENRY RICE, Jr.
" Copyright 1921 BY Jas. D. Grist>
",tls The BALD EAGLE.

fTOLIl lIlilllSiiiOtiAi 9SSS. Ss.6iSo iie1
furnished material for: myths and spp-.
perstitions. This was to be expected
SINCE first hand information was always
hard to, get. Eagles are bold flyers,
nesting in remote and inaccessible
places" and the absence'of exact infor-
nation invariably? Starts people to
guessing. .,.,..'. :,
But one would hardly expect the
great John James Audubon to fall
victim to prevailing superstition; yet
he did. He assigned Widespread Of
ten feet, two inches to a specimen he
made an incorrect drawing from MEM
ory.. At least this is the conclusion Of
naturalists. The specimen was not pre-
served and the drawing Is incorrect In
many particulars. The Widespread is
six to seven feet.
Audubon called the Bald Eagle "the
bird of Washington" Many people, in
cluding hunters, have made the mis-
take that Audubon made and have be-
lieved In the existence of three eagles,
whereas they are one and the san-e
bird at different stages of growth and
moult. -: ''.r. .-'
In the measurement Of number OF
specimens, adult and immature birds,
Rldgway discovered the remarkable
fact that miniature birds have longer
tails. and wings. than old birds-about
two inches longer. =. ........." -.
The young eagles during the: first
year are black eagles, the second year
they are gray eagles, usually larger
than the old birds-the largest speci-
mems being of this shade; in the third
year they get the white neck feathers
and white tail, with reduced size. This
is q general rule with regard to the
Falconidae, the hawk and cage tribe.
The immature Bald Eagle looks much
like the Golden Eagle. and they are
often confounded' There is safe rule
for distinguishing them. nafnely, by an
inspection Of the tarsusi or lower leg
joint. In the Golden Eagle the; tarsus
is always feathered; in the Bal Eagle
never. "> ...-
Bird of tl1e Seashore.
The Bald Eagle, whose scientific name
Is Haliaeetus leucocephalus leucoce-
phalus. IS principally bird Of the sea-
Shore. and is found from Canada TO
Mexico and Lower California along the
shore. Of the. Atlantic and the Gulf.
Rideway reports them as OCCURRING
along the Columbia river whereby feed
on salmon that have been killed. and
cast up. although they are capable of
diving for fish.
First. the name Of the bird Haliace
tus, means sea eagle in Greek; leucoce-
phalus means white headed. This Is
repeated to show that the bird is the
type or head Of the family.
Bald Eagles are fairly common along
the South Cagplina coast, breeding on
the mainland and on sea islands. The
nest is a huge affair. five or six feet in
diameter and some four feet thick,
and strong enough to support several
men. It Is placed in the highest pines
Or other tall trees. sometimes In Il live
tree, at others in dead one.
Find Fish Heads In Nests.
Mr.. Arthur T. Wayne, of The Oaks
plantation above Mount Pleasant, says
that the time consumed in building a
new nest is thirty-five days. They use
the same nest from year to year unless
disturbed and Mr.. Wayne adds the in
teresting fact that old nests are often
used as store houses for food. One OF
the commonest things found in an
eagles nest is mass Of catfish heads,
bne Stic
heads remained after the rest Of the
/ fish had been devoured in the sea, Sc
that the eagle took them from the sur
face Of the water
Two eggs are laid and one brood is
raised each year. One OF these eggs is
inTara bly, smaller than the other, and
DR.. Couse thinks this means differ
ence in the sex of the embryo. How
ever that be, one young of each sex Is
usually, if not Invariably, found ina
nest.
The mighty power of eagles car
hardly be exaggerated; it is hard tt
convey a proper idea Of it.
| They can tear q wild turkey in strips
,and once in Columbia, when an eagle
taken by the late Col. E. j. Watson
was confined with Turkey Nulture. il
! grasped the vulture in its talons ane
,tore it in half, afterWard scattering the
pieces around. When found there wa:
nothing left of the vulture but scatter
| ed bones and feathers. Eagles can, ant
do, kill fawns, and sometimes they take
toll Of pigs and lambs, although this i!
rare occurrence. Their food come:
from the sea. They are by habit fish
eaters.
For this reason they follow the shore
line. The Golden Eagle is confined K
mountainou regions, especially to th'
Rocky Mountains. and it is found ava.
from mountains only in rare instanc
We have some three records for thi
State.
The Bald Eagle is found rarely ava.
from water. Now and then one Il
blown. into the interior by storms o
wanders there. No case of one nesting
away from the seaside is known to me
The National Bird.
The Bald agile represents America
Long ago it was chosen rs the ,nHtlona
emblem and this has led to much sar
casm from other nations, because
Imarauder and freebooter had beer
chosen as our emblem. But. the iRa \
Eagle is a mar;luder to q very Sligh
extent. On the other hand he repre-
sents dauntleSs courage and resistleS
might ItFs dangerous. .to=arouse hin
in defense of his nest and young. whe
I Welcomes q very ds1nofr>fo ffEfe.@ 10
Old Ben Franklin thought we shoul
have Selected the Turkey for the ma
tional bird, hut SO helpless a specie