5 feet across and little more than a 

 foot thick. Basic nest materials 

 consist of sticks variable in size. 

 The lining may include the ends of 

 pine branches, soapAveed, shredded 

 bark, oak moss, burlap bags, news- 

 paper, matted cattle hair, or, as ob- 

 served in one nest in Utah, a silk 

 stocking. This latter article is of 

 interest in view of a somewhat 

 legendary case in which the discov- 

 ery of a part of the clothing of a 

 small boy in an eagle's nest led to 

 the deduction that the eagle had 

 killed the boy. 



The date of egg laying varies 

 greatly in the southern and north- 

 ern parts of the golden eagle's 

 i-ange. Laying as recorded by Bent 

 (1938) is as follows: Arctic Amer- 

 ica (5 records) May 27 to June 29; 

 California to Texas (272 records) 

 February 9 to May 18. Thus, there 

 is about a 3 months' spread in the 

 dates on whicli the first eggs are 

 laid in the extremes of the golden 

 eagle's range. Tlie usual set is two 

 eggs. Sets of one egg are common 

 and of three rather rare; at least 

 one set of four has been taken, ac- 

 cording to Bent. 



According to Dixon (1937), both 

 sexes share in tlie incubation of the 

 eggs. Although this point is de- 

 bated by some observers, all agree 

 that tlie male does lielp biood tlie 

 young. According to Bent, the pe- 

 riod of incubation is about 35 days. 

 Although a female may desert her 

 eggs if the nast is bothered by man, 

 she will rarely desert the young. 

 Dixon found that the eggs of vari- 

 ous females show great individual- 

 ity and, one might say, a family ic- 

 semblance as to sliape and coloi-. 



This characteristic appearance of 

 the eggs can be used in determining 

 the tenure of a nesting female in a 

 given locality. 



Adult eagles are usually ex- 

 tremely wary when a person comes 

 near the nest. Unless special pre- 

 cautions ai'e taken, an observer may 

 at best catch merely a glimpse of 

 one or both adults as they leave the 

 vicinity. His next view of the 

 birds may be when they reappear 

 in the distance on some vantage 

 ])oint or as casually circling specks 

 high in the sky. Without adequate 

 observations it may even be diffi- 

 cult to determine which of several 

 nests in the vicinity is the one oc- 

 cupied at the time. 



The exceptional wariness that 

 adult eagles display Avhen humans 

 are in the vicinity of their nests no 

 doubt plaj's an important part in 

 their ability to survive. It is the 

 basis for Dixon's (1937) comment 

 that in southern California the 

 golden eagle is better able to survive 

 than most })redatory birds, and for 

 Pierce's (1927) statement that the 

 golden eagle is holding its own in 

 southern California far better than 

 is perhaps to be expected. 



Extreme wariness is such a uni- 

 versal trait in tlie golden eagle that 

 one may even sj)e('ulate as to the 

 etfect the unrelenting pressure ex- 

 erted on the '"war eagle'' by genera- 

 tions of North American Indians 

 may liaNc had in forming or 

 strengthen iny- this behavior. - 



= Tail feathers of the immature birds, with 

 Ihoir broad, white bases were espeeiall.v 

 sought and, to assure uniformity, the two 

 central feathers were selected. Golden 

 entries wer(> even kejit in eaiitivity so that 

 Ihesc feallli'i-s nii-lil lie lilnrUeil wlieli tliey 

 xrew out. 



