The Golden Eagle (AquUa chrysaetos) 



By W. Leon Dawson 



Description. — Adult: General plumage rich dark brown, sometimes paling 

 on wing-coverts, etc. ; the lanceolate feathers of occiput and cervix buffy-tipped 

 and tawny-edged (scarcely "golden," but the name arises here) ; wing-quills and 

 tail blackish, the latter clouded or obscurely barred for the basal two-thirds with 

 grayish brown and whitish ; tarsi, fully feathered to the toes, paler or whitish. 

 The birds become somewhat gray with age. Immature: Like adult, but basal 

 two-thirds of tail plain white contrasting with terminal black; tarsi still paler or 

 white. (Authorities flatly disagree as to whether the white-tailed bird is adult or 

 young; I follow Ridgway. There is a difference but for pity's sake let's not go 

 and kill off the rest of the Eagles for the sake of finding out who is in the right.) 

 Adult male length 30.00-36.00 (762.-914.4) ; wing about 24.00 (609.6) ; tail about 

 14.50 (368.3) ; bill 1.60 (40.6) ; tarsus 3.75 (95.3). Adult female length 35.00- 

 40.00 (889.-1016.) ; wing about 26.00 (660.4) ; tail 15.50 (393.7) ; bill 1.80 (45.7) ; 

 tarsus 4.18 (106.2). Extent of wing from six and one-half to seven and one-half 

 feet. 



Recognition Marks. — Largest ; not easily distinguished at distance from 

 immature Bald Eagle ; feathered tarsi, of course, distinctive. 



Nest, a bulky platform of sticks, on cliffs, or, more rarely, in trees. Eggs, 

 2 or 3, dull whitish, usually speckled, spotted, blotched or stained distinctly and 

 faintly with reddish brown. Av. size, 2.96x2.32 (75.2x58.9). 



Range. — North America south to Mexico, and northern parts of the Eastern 

 Hemisphere. Breeding range in the United States practically restricted to the 

 mountainous parts of unsettled regions. 



Because of the racial weakness for symbols and striking generalizations, we 

 have been taught that the Golden Eagle is the embodiment of all regal qualities, 

 including courage, magnanimity, and valor in defense of offspring. There is some 

 foundation for all this. Li his mountain home the majestic flight of the Eagle 

 truly befits the grandeur of the scene. Cradled on a beetling cliff and schooled in 

 the clouds, it is little wonder that the Eagle should have become for us the symbol 

 of both prowess and aspiration. Even in captivity there is something awful about 

 his piercing eye, and the unrest of the royal captive appeals to all that is chivalrous 

 in our natures. 



But the reputation of the Eagle race, quite as in the case of our own, has 

 been made by a few individuals, and their feats are a revelation of the possibilities 

 inherent in the breed rather than chapters from common life. Never shall I 

 forget the pained disappointment of my first Golden Eagle's nest in the Cascade 

 Mountains of Washington. The situation was romantic enough — a ledge of rock 

 some three hundred and fifty feet uj) on the side of the gulch and seventy-five 

 feet clear of the talus below. At the time of my first visit. May 18th. the ne.'^t 

 contained two eaglets about six weeks old. Armed with a stout birchen staff I 



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