GOLDEN EAGLE. 207 



frecjiuMitiiiii (he iu;irsliy sIioil's i)f Hamilton Uay. 1 1 has not been 

 observed duiinii' the breeding season, neither does it ottui- in wintei-. 



This species in appearance and haljits Ijears some resembhiiice to 

 the owls, its full, soft plumage, feathered legs, large head and flat 

 face all pointing in that direction. Tl is also olhservcd to l)e fond of 

 hunting in tlie dim twilight, after all the other hawks have retired 

 and only the owls are abroad. Its manner is (|uite resj)ectable. It 

 is neither given to whining nor to ferocity, l)ut is one of the "hen- 

 hawks" for whose head a bounty has been offered. We can readily 

 imagine the dignified look of injured innocence he would a.ssume, if 

 he could be placed on the perch and made to understand that he was 

 charged with robbing the hen roost, because the evidence now goes 

 to show that he never touched a hen in his life. 



The l^ough-legged Buzzard has the highest record of any of our 

 l>irds of prey, foi- its food consists almost entirely of the small mam- 

 mals which ar(! the farmers' worst enemies. It is rathei' irregularlv 

 distributed, but has been found breeding in Labrador, and north 

 even within the Arctic circle. On the sea coast and along the Yukon 

 River it is replaced by the Old World form. 



(xExrs AQUILA Brissox. 

 AQIHLA CHRY.SAET08 (Lixx.). 



U!). Golden Eagle. (-U'.*) 



Dark brown, with a piu])lisli gloss ; lanceolate feathers of head and neck, 

 golden-brown; quills, blackish. In the yoiing, tail, white, with a broad 

 terminal black zone. Al)out 3 feet long; wing, upwards of 2 feet; tail, a foot 

 or more. 



Hab. — North America, south to Mexico. Noithern parts of the Old World. 



Nest, an accunuilation of sticks, usually jtlaced on an inaccessil)le rocky 

 crag, more r-arely in a tree. 



Eggs, two, rarely three, soiled w liitc, niarkwl with lnowu or chestnut. 



This fierce and daring Eagle has its home among the rugged and 

 inaccessible cliffs of Canada East; but in the fall it is seen following 

 the flocks of water-fowl, which, at this season, visit the lakes to rest 

 and recruit themselves a*» they travel southward. Some j^ears ago I 

 asked a boy, whose home I considered a favorable point for getting 

 birds of prey, to shoot any liawks or owls he saw and bring them to 

 me. A few days afterwai-ds I s;iw him approaching my lunise with a 



