THE OTTAWA I(ATURALIST. 



Vol. XVII. OTTAWA, FEBRUARY, 1904. No. n 



OUR EAGLES AND OSPREYS. 



Rev. C. J. Young. 



The eagle is a notable bird in every country, and the person 

 who takes but little interest usually in the avi-fauna of his neigh- 

 borhood, after seeing one, is very apt to say to his friend, " I 

 saw ?n eagle the other ay." But we must regretfully admit 

 that this will soon be a remark of the past, so bitter is the war of 

 extermination that is waged against thes-e noble and compara- 

 tively harmless birds. 



The bald-headed eagle \HalicBetiis leucocephahis) is rapidly 

 decreasing in numbers in Ontario, and the sight of a nest will be 

 almost denied to tae rising generation. The golden eagle (^^////a 

 chrysaetos) has always been a rarity in this province. The former 

 bird is occasionally observed in the winter ; one or two are fre- 

 quently seen in the vicinity of Kingston sailing along the shores 

 of Lake Ontario ; inland it is but rarely noticed until spring, on 

 account of lack of food, I suppose. Up to the year 1895 two or 

 three pairs always nested in the woods around Charleston Lake, 

 County of Leeds, Ont. ; at the present date one pair may possibly 

 do so. One of these nests was located in a poplar tree, a most 

 unusual building site, fixed in the limbs not more than twenty 

 feet from the ground. The tree grew in a ravine just under the 

 Blue Mountain which overlooks the lake. Another nest was in 

 an oak, near Slim Bay, and which was occupied as lately as the 

 year 1901. 



The bald eagle also bred commonly along the St. Lawrence; 

 south of Lansdowne, near Symonds Mt., a nest built in an elm 

 being used for many years. The birds subsequently moved to a 

 tall pine at the head of Landon's Bay, and raised their young 



