FALCONID^ — THE FALCONS. 3;^9 



that may have adliered to the beak by scratching it with their talons or 

 rubbing it against tlie bars of their cage. Several of these birds, in confine- 

 ment, especially the female referred to, wlien their cage was approached, 

 wonld endeavor to attack ^Ir. MacFarlane, descending from their sleeping-jiole 

 and making a rusii at the front bars of the cage, spreading the wings and 

 flapping them with great force, and making active demonstrations with beak 

 and talons. Occasionally they wonld get out of their cages ; then it was no 

 easy matter to get them back again, as, when approached, they would throw 

 themselves on their backs and thrust out their talons in the most formida- 

 ble manner. They nest as early as the last of April or early in May, as 

 largely developed embryos were found on the 27th of May. When their 

 nests were jjillaged they generally deserted tiaem ; but in one instance, where 

 the female liad been snared upon lier nest, and the eggs taken, the same 

 nest was occupied the following season by the male witli another mate. Tlie 

 new mate was shot, and proved to be a mature bird. Almost invariably the 

 male birds were too wary to be either sh(5t or taken in a snare. Two of 

 the nests of this bird, pointed out by tlie Indians, appeared to have been used 

 for several years, and had been known to tlieir discoverers for si.x or seven 

 years previous. The nests taken were in about latitude 69° 30'. 



In one particular case a nest had been discovered two years previously by 

 MacFarlane's Esquimo interpreter. It had been occupied that season, and 

 a pair of Eagles had been recognized as its inmates. In 1863 the nest was 

 known to have been reoccupied, though he did not visit it. On the 17th 

 of May, 1864, he went to it and found both Eagles engaged in repairing it. 

 The female appeared to act as the builder, and the male as the carrier of the 

 materials, as well as the provider of provisions. The nest was not complete, 

 and contained two half-eaten Ptarmigans, but no egcrs. It was built aiiainst 

 the face of a steep bank of a small stream, and was of considerable bulk. 

 When first constructed, the nest of this Eagle is comparatively small, but as 

 it is renovated every season, it ultimately becomes large and bulky. A 

 quantity of dry sticks and twigs are laid lengthways over the greater portion 

 of tlie platform of tlie previous season, and the spaces between are filled up 

 by smaller twigs, mosses, and hay, and the centre is then covered with the 

 two latter ingredients, intermixed with deer's hair, etc. This annual addition 

 varies in thickness from three to eighteen inches. In no instance did Mr. 

 MacFarlane find or hear of any accumulation of bones or other debris of food 

 either on or in the neighborhood of tlie nests. In three instances the nests 

 were constructed in the tops of tall pines. In these cases the sandy nature 

 of the soil did not favor their building on the sides of cliffs. 



The " Mountain Eagle," as this species is called throughout the western 

 regions of the United States, was found by Mr. Eidgway to be a common 

 species throughout the Great Basin along the line of the 40th parallel. It 

 was daily seen soaring about the mountains, and nested on inaccessible cliffs. 

 A pair — the female leading — were observed to give chase to a Sage Hen 



