208 BIRDS OF ONTARIO. 



sack over his shoulder, wliich, judging from the Imlk, iniglit t-ontaiii 

 a dozen li;n\ ks, but great was my surprise when he shook out a fine 

 hirge female Golden Eagle, he had shot that morning as it fle\v uver 

 the place where he happened to be standing. 



Shortly afterwards I got a young male which had been caught 

 near Stony Creek, and I have seen several that were procured near 

 Toronto. Dark brown Eagles are often observed hovering along the 

 shores of Lake Ontario during the fall, but at a distance it is impos- 

 sible to distinguish between this and the young of the Bald Eagle, 

 which is also uniformly brown throughout. The quickest way of 

 identifying the species, on close inspection, is by referring to the legs, 

 which, in the Golden Eagle, are feathered down to the toes, difiering 

 as much in this respect from the Bald Eagle as the Rough-legged 

 Buzzard does from any of the other hawks. 



Except as a wanderer during the season of migration, the (rolden 

 Eagle is seldom seen in Ontario. 



In the far North-West it is more commoii. In the " Birds of 

 Alaska," Mr. Nelson says regarding it: "It nests rather commonly 

 on the Lower McKenzie and Anderson Rivers, and extends its range 

 to the Arctic shores of the mainland, and perhaps reaches some 

 of the adjacent islands north of British America. In spite of the 

 courageous and even fierce character of this fine bird, it sometimes 

 descends to feed upon carrion. On one occasion a pair was dis- 

 turbed by a friend of mine while they were feeding upon the remains 

 of a hog in Northern Illinois. As my friend approached, the bii'ds 

 arose and swooped fiercely at him. Both birds were shot almost at 

 the muzzle of the gun. The first fell dead almost at his feet, but this 

 apparently served only to increase the rage of the survi^or, which 

 renewed the attack until it, too, was disabled." 



In sections of the country where prairie dogs, rabbits oi- gophers 

 are abundant, the Golden Eagle is very beneficial, confining its 

 attention mainly to these noxious animals; but in places where wild 

 game is scarce, it is often very destructive to the young of domestic 

 animals. 



From its record, where best known, it has been placed in Class <• 

 its good and bad deeds being about equal in quantity. 



