Home › R › Range (Northern parts of the Old)

Range (Northern parts of the Old)

Northern parts of the Old World; Greenland.

Nest, on cliffs or in trees. Eggs, two to three, dull white, "occasionally with small, faint spots of light brown" (Davie), 3.00 x 2.35. This is a common species in Greenland. 352. Haliæetus leucocephalus (Linn.). BALD EAGLE. Ad.- Head, neck, and tail white, rest of the plumage fuscous; bill yellow; tarsus not fully feathered. Im. - Fuscous, more or less varied with white; tail fuscous, more or less mottled with white, particularly on the inner vanes of the feathers; bill black. & L., 32-85; Ex., 84·10; W., 22.00; T., 11.90; B., 2:48. L., 35-50; Ex., 89.00; W., 24·00; T., 12-25; Weight, 12 lbs.

Range.-North America, breeding throughout its range.

Washington, not common P. R. Sing Sing, common P. R. Cambridge, of irregular occurrence at all seasons. Nest, generally in tall trees. Eggs, two to three, dull white, 2.85 x 2.20. 113 Bald Eagles are seldom found far from the water. Here they may be seen soaring overhead, winging their way to and from their feeding ground, or occupying some favorite perch, generally in an exposed position. They subsist principally upon fish. As a last resort they sometimes capture these themselves, but dead fish cast up on the shore FIG. 72.-Foot of Bald Eagle.

FALCONS, HAWKS, EAGLES, ETC. are eagerly taken, and their habit of robbing the Fish Hawk of his well-earned booty is too well known to be commented upon. In some localities, particularly in the south during the winter, they live largely upon water-fowl which they capture themselves.

The voice of the Bald Eagle has a weird, human quality. Dr. Fisher says: "At a distance the note of the Bald Eagle is not altogether unpleasant, resembling somewhat that of Sea Gulls, but near by it is grating and suggests a maniacal laugh." Dr. William L. Ralph writes in Captain Bendire's Life Histories of North American Birds, p. 277: "The cry of the male is a loud and clear cac-cac-cac, quite different from that of the female-so much so that I could always recognize the sex of the bird by it; the call of the latter is more harsh and often broken."

The conspicuous white head and tail of adults of this species render it easy of identification even at a considerable distance. Young birds too closely resemble Golden Eagles to be distinguished with certainty, but the rarity of that species in the east makes it probable that any Eagle observed is a Bald Eagle. 353. Falco islandus Brünn. WHITE GYRFALCON. Ad. - Head white, finely streaked with black; scapulars, interscapulars, and wing-coverts brownish gray, widely margined with white; tail white, the central feathers with sometimes broken bars; under parts white, lightly streaked with grayish brown; under tail-coverts white. Im.-Similar, but upper parts with narrower white margins; tail barred with brownish gray, under parts heavily streaked with the same color. L., 22.00; W., 16.00; T., 10.00; B. from N., 95.