GOLDEN EAGLE 295 



on the steep side of a mountain ; it was about 75 feet from the bot- 

 tom of the cliff and 25 feet from the top, having a fine outlook over 

 the valley far below. This was also occupied by redtails, but, as 

 it was a fairly easy climb with the aid of ropes, I went down to it 

 and secured the two hawk's eggs. It was a huge nest of large sticks, 

 roots, and stems of yuccas and was lined with strips of yucca and 

 other soft fibers. 



The other pair of eagles had two nests, which they used in alter- 

 nate years. One w^as in an easily accessible place on a low pinnacle 

 of rock, but it was not in use. The alternate nest was on the farther 

 side of a steep little mountain, which we reached by climbing up 

 a steep slope to the rocky summit; here the ridge dropped off sud- 

 denly in rocky cliffs and steep slopes. At the brink of the cliff we 

 could see no nest, but by rolling rocks over the edge we started the 

 old eagle off her nest only about 12 feet below us. It was a difficult 

 nest to reach from above on account of the overhanging cliff, but 

 I found a place where I could climb to a ledge below it and come 

 up to the nest on the ropes. It was located on an outlying spur of 

 a high rocky cliff, about 125 feet up from the base. It was a large, 

 old nest, 4 by 5 feet in diameter, made of large sticks, stems, and 

 roots of yucca and other coarse materials ; it was lined with grasses, 

 weeds, strips of inner bark, and other soft fiber. Its contents were 

 rather interesting, a small downy young, only a few days old, a 

 very rotten egg, which burst in my hand, and the remains, mostl}'^ 

 the hindquarters, of 12 rabbits. The eagle had flown off in silence 

 and did not show herself again, even while I was sitting in the nest 

 and admiring the view. 



Two other nests were found in the Dragoon Mountains, one in the 

 Huachucas and one in the Catalinas. All were similarly located in 

 commanding positions on rocky cliffs, where the birds could look out 

 over a wide expanse of open country. We found no tree nests in 

 Arizona, where big trees are scarce, except in the canyons. 



In southern California it was different. Here, in 1929, with the 

 aid of Wright M. Pierce and E. L. Sumner, Jr., I saw five nests in 

 a variety of situations, two in trees and three on cliffs. The cliff 

 nests were very similar to those found in Arizona and similarly 

 located on rocky cliffs in low mountain ranges or on rough, steep, 

 rocky hills. To reach the nest from which I secured my only egg, 

 we had a long, tough climb up to the head of a winding canyon 

 among some rough, rocky hills on the Mojave Desert. Here we saw 

 the nest on a high cliff above a steep, rocky slope; it was only about 

 20 feet up from the base of the cliff and about 30 feet down from the 

 top. The old eagle flew off when she saw us coming and circled 

 way off in the distance. We climbed to the foot of the cliff and half- 

 way up to the nest, but only with ropes let down from above could 



