182 Birds of Colorado 



12,000 feet. It is also found in the mountains in the winter up to about 

 11,000 feet, and sometimes wanders out on to the plains during this 

 season. Warren informs me that he has seen it near Orchard, where 

 it was said to breed, and also on Irwins Ranch in Las Animas co., where 

 he noticed an old eyrie. Breeding records are : Specimen Mount 

 above Estes Park (Kellogg), Boulder co. (Gale), Wet Mountains, up to 

 11,000 feet (Lowe), near Grand Junction (Rockwell), La Plata co. 

 (Morrison). It is not at all uncommon near Colorado Springs in winter, 

 and there are several old eyries still close by, though now deserted. 



Habits. — Essentially a bird of the mountains, the 

 Golden Eagle is perhaps more abundant in Colorado 

 than in any other state in the Union. It quickly dis- 

 appears before civilization, however, and has been 

 destroyed in many parts of the country by poison. It is 

 somewhat wary and shy, and is usually met with in pairs, 

 which are believed to mate for life. It has a harsh and 

 rather shrill scream, and is fierce and untamable though 

 easily kept in captivity. 



The Golden Eagle preys chiefly on hares, ground- 

 squirrels and the various grouse. In Colorado it is said 

 to kill a great many lambs of the mountain sheep, and 

 to descend to the plains in winter to pursue the young 

 antelope. It occasionally carries ofiP a lamb or a 

 young calf, while it will freely eat carrion if pressed 

 by hunger. 



In California the Golden Eagle generally builds its 

 nest in trees, bub in Colorado it always fixes its eyrie 

 in a crevice or on a ledge in a vertical ch£E. The nest 

 is built up of sticks and added to year after year, so that 

 it often becomes very bulky ; Gale measured one six 

 feet in diameter and nine feet high ; the lining is scanty, 

 of a few smaller twigs or tufts of grass, but a fresh spray 

 of evergreen, either spruce or balsam -fir, is almost 

 invariably found in the nest. The eggs, two or three 

 in number, are ovate and dirty white in ground-colour. 

 The markings vary greatly : sometimes they are wholly 



