THE GOLDEN EAGLE. 



517 



located a Golden Eagle's nest. The material of which these hills are com- 

 posed is a kind of volcanic ash, very friable, and the lairds had chosen for 

 their eyrie a cranny in the very middle of one of the wildest of these fossil- 

 bearing cliffs, and at a height of some seventy feet. It was practically in- 

 accessible even by rope, for tlie cliff is perpendicnlar and deeply tissured 

 bv the action of the weather, so that the flying buttresses tluis formed are 

 readv to part and crnmble at a breath. A pair of Prairie Falcons had a 

 nest in the "next block" and they ap- 

 peared to make a practice of perse- 

 cuting the Eagles just for sport. I 

 saw one of the Eagles launch out from 

 his nest for a course across the broad 

 valley. A Falcon took after him, altlio 

 the Eagle had a big lead. "A race," 



thought I. Woof, 'tc'oo/, ^voof^ 

 the Eagle's wings: clif', r///'. 

 clip, clip, went the Falcon's. 

 Liside of a mile the smaller 

 bird made up the distance, 

 scratched His Majesty's crown 

 with his noble toes, and was 

 up in the ether a hundred }'ards 

 before the Eagle could do a 

 thing. This process was re- 

 peated until the gentle pair 

 passed from sight, but a few 

 minutes later the Falcon re- 

 tttrned to his perch, chuckling 

 hugely. 



At present the Golden Eagle 

 is confined almost exclusively 

 to the higher mountains, 

 especially the Cascades. It 

 was unknown to Cooper 

 and Suckley, and we have 

 only one record of its ap- 

 pearance on Puget Sound. 

 The birds are practically 

 resident wherever found, 

 but they undoubtedly do 

 wander ofT to tlie prairies 

 and lowlands now and then 



went 



m^: ^^^ ^^ 



Taken in California. 



Photo by H. T. Bohlman and W. L. Finlcy. 



THE BIRD I: 



A PRINCK UF THE EI.OOD ROYAL. 



STILL IN THE NEbT. ONE OF THE EAGLETS PREVIOUSLY SHOWN. 



