5i8 THE GOLDEN EAGLE. 



in fall and winicr. The}- become \cry closely allached to a given stretch 

 C)f territory and probablv luue the mountain areas jiretty definitely par- 

 celled out amongst them. Barring accident.s, the birds are mated for life, 

 and thru the regularity of their habits it becomes possible to recognize 

 individuals at sight. 



.\mong the foothills and along the banks of the Columbia with its 

 tributaries, the Yellow-lielliecl Marmot (Arcloiiiys flai'ivctitcr avanis), locally 

 known as Woodchuck or (iround-hog, is its staple article of diet ; and its 

 cousin, the Whistler (A. caligatus), enjoys the same distinction in the 

 mountains. Lesser rodents are captured on the one hand, and the young 

 of deer, sheep, and goats on the other. Birds are not overlooked. Ducks. 

 and occasionally Geese, are taken in midair, while Sharp-tailed Grouse and 

 Sage Hens are seized upon the ground. The Eagle hunts chiefly in high 

 lazy circles, from which he descends like a h)\{ when prey is sighted. He 

 is also the first to aj.ipear in the case of a wounded deer or goat in the 

 mountains. If the hunter is tardy, the Eagle gets at least tlie tidbits and 

 sometimes ruins the hide. So great is the bird's solicitude in these matters 

 that he has been accused of giving the cuiip dc grace to the dying buck. 

 The Magpie keejis tab on the royal progress, and when he susjiects that 

 there is "something doing," hurries tip to glean cninil>s in the wake of his 

 surfeited lord. 



Bendire is authority for the statement that nests of the Golden Eagle 

 are oftenest built in trees, and cites the Blue .Mountains of Washington, 

 Oregon, and Idaho as examples of this practice. In the Cascades, however, 

 I ha\e never found them except on cliffs. .Vests are occupied year after 

 year, sa^-e that the same pair may maintain two establishtneiits a mile or 

 so apart, and resort now to one and now to the other at the dictates of 

 caution, or possibly for sanitary reasons. l{ach season the occupied nest is 

 freshened up bv the addition of a layer of fir boughs, having stems up to 

 an inch or more in diameter. Deposition of eggs occurs in March, some- 

 times (as in the case of the Conconnidly nest ) as early as March 1st. In- 

 cubation lasts about four weeks, and the \-oiuig birds require to be cherished 

 in the nest for a period of eight weeks longer. 



Should a nest be robbed, the Eagles will not nest again that season; 

 and if persecuted, they will refrain from nesting altogether sooner than 

 abandon chosen territory. To those wdio love Nature in Iter wilder moods 

 rather than the proprieties of park and garden, the passing of the Eagle is 

 one of the saddest of the "pains of progress." 



