Washington is enmeshed in an eagle controversy, this one involving the meaning of the word "disturb." The eagle population is robust enough to merit removing the bird from the list of threatened and endangered species, but there's a catch. Once removed from that list, the bird then becomes subject to the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act of 1940, which bans the taking and possession of eagles.

To "take," means to "pursue, shoot, shoot at, poison, wound, kill, capture, trap, collect, molest or disturb." The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been wrestling with the ban since 1999, and faces a court-ordered deadline to define "disturb."

Developers, property owners and environmental and wildlife groups have all proposed definitions of greater or lesser stringency, ranging from "killing" or "injuring" to simply "annoying."

This is not a case of idle bureaucrats with too much time on their hands. The eagles favor nesting in tall trees overlooking waterways, which seem invariably to be scenic. The Potomac certainly is.