BIOLOGICAL PAPERS. 179 



THE GOLDEN EAGLE. 



{Aqulla chrysaetufi.) 



By L. L. Dyche, Uaiversity of Kansas, Lawrence, 



Read before the Academy, at Topeka, December 30, 1904. 



'T^HE Golden Eagle is a rare resident of the state of Kansas. A 

 -^ pair of birds were reported to me in 1901 as having reared their 

 yonng on a high, rocky ledge in Trego county. In fall and winter the 

 birds may be considered as not uncommon. If I should judge from 

 my own experience, during the past fifteen or twenty years, I should 

 say that the birds had increased as winter sojourners rather than de- 

 creased. During the fall and winter of 1901 and 1902, not less than 

 twenty-one Golden eagles were reported to me at the University of 

 Kansas as having been killed or trapped in the state of Kansas. Many 

 were undoubtedly taken that I had no knowledge of. However, very 

 few eagles are thrown away without first being offered to a museum 

 or taxidermist. 



A dozen were reported last winter, and the record is up to nine 

 specimens already for this winter. It has been possible to see them 

 almost any pleasant day this fall soaring in the neighborhood of 

 Lawrence, especially in the valley of the Wakarusa, a few miles east 

 or west of the city. 



The Golden eagle is, by most writers, considered a grander, nobler 

 and more courageous bird than his near cousin, the Bald eagle. One 

 specimen of Golden eagle, a female from western Kansas, received in 

 the laboratory in 1901, had a spread of wings of eighty-seven inches, 

 and the bird weighed twelve pounds and five ounces. However, there 

 was a full pound of jack-rabbit meat in the bird's crop. 



The object of this paper, however, is not to give general informa- 

 tion about the bird, but to give notes upon its food habits, based 

 upon the examination of specimens that have happened to fall into 

 my hands. 



The record of observations extends over a period of twenty-two 

 years, during which time over forty birds were examined. Some 

 specimens had nothing of consequence in their crops, while others 

 had been kept in captivity and fed, rendering them of no value for 

 food- habit observations. 



The notes which follow are based upon the examination of thirty 

 stomachs that had more or less food in them. 



In order to get a better idea of the field covered, I have prepared 

 a chart. By reference to this chart, the date, locality and nature of 

 food found in each bird's stomach can be ascertained. 



