Americana: The Lady Vanishes

It might be a case of women's liberation or mistaken sexual identity or simple adolescent wanderlust. Whatever, the fact is that not since the turn of the century have bald eagles nested in Massachusetts, and there is no sign they soon will. In June, two six-week-old eaglets from Michigan's Upper Peninsula were imported by Massachusetts wildlife authorities as part of a program to reintroduce the species to the Bay State. When they were placed in cages atop a 21-ft. tower, all went well—at first. Ross (the purported male) took to soaring like, well, an eagle as soon as he was released last month. But Betsy (the purported female) was not impressed. Three days later she left the premises; state trackers soon picked up radio signals somewhere over Ontario that were emanating from the transmitter on her tail. "There's an excellent chance she'll return to nest," insists Bill Byrne, a state wildlife official. "It's perfectly normal for birds of prey to make long exploratory flights before settling into a pattern."

But there may be another hitch in this arranged romance. Was Betsy a lady? The usual tip-off to gender at that age is size, but, Byrne admits, "We didn't run any blood tests." Maybe the eaglet had good reason to fly the coop.