294 BULLETIN 16 7, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



of the noble falcons, clean, spirited, and dashing. It is a far nobler 

 bird in every way than the bald eagle and might well have been 

 chosen as our national emblem. But then the golden eagle is not 

 a strictly American bird, as the bald eagle is. 



The golden eagle, as a species, is widely distributed throughout 

 the Northern Hemisphere; seven races have been described from 

 various regions in Europe and Asia besides our North American 

 form, which is a large, dark race. Our race was once more widely 

 distributed than it is now. At the present time it is very rare as a 

 breeding bird anyAvhere east of the Rocky Mountains. I have two 

 birds in my collection that were taken from a nest on Waldens Ridge, 

 in the Cumberland Mountains, Tenn., in 1902; they were raised in 

 captivity for over a year before they died and were given to me. At 

 the present time these eagles are probably more abundant in the 

 wilder portions of southern California than anywhere else in this 

 country, but even there they have decreased decidedly within the 

 past few years. Their decrease is mainly due to the indiscriminate 

 use of poisoned baits and to shooting and trapping by cowboys, 

 ranchers, and hunters, with the erroneous notion that they do more 

 harm than good. With the decrease in the number of eagles we may 

 look for an increase in the number of ground squirrels. 



Courtship. — The courtship of the golden eagle is much like that 

 of the Buteos, to which it is closely related. It consists mainly of 

 spectacular flight maneuvers, spiral sailings in ever-rising circles, 

 in which the birds frequently come close together and then drift 

 apart; as they pass they almost touch. Occasionally one will start 

 a series of nose dives on half-closed wings, swooping up again be- 

 tween dives and giving vent to his joy in musical cries. This form 

 of nuptial play is indulged in by both sexes and is kept up, more 

 or less, all through the nesting season. Perhaps it is only a form 

 of joyful exercise. The birds are apparently mated for life, and if 

 one is killed the survivor immediately seeks a new mate. 



Nesting. — My personal experience with golden eagles' nests is lim- 

 ited to seven nests found in Arizona and five in southern California, 

 from all of which I collected only one Qgg. The Arizona nests were 

 shown to me by my late lamented friend, Frank C. Willard, who, 

 after many years of experience with them, knew where to find sev- 

 eral pairs of these fine birds. Our first nest was a disappointment, 

 as we found it occupied by a pair of western redtails. We had 

 driven over the divide in the Mule Mountains, from Bisbee, to 

 visit this long-established nest, which was located near the top of 

 a high, rocky cliff, rising abruptly from a valley; but when we 

 reached the top of the cliff, we saw the hawk fly off the nest (pi. 81). 



The following day, April 5, 1922, we visited two nests near Tomb- 

 stone. One was on a small ledge on the face of a bulging, rocliy cliff 



