THE GOLDEN EAGLE, 263 



89. Aquila chrysaetos (Linn^us) . 



GOLDEN EAGLE. 



Falcn chriisaefns Linn^.us, Systema Naturae, ed. 10, r, 1758, 88. 

 Aquila cUrysaetiis DuMONT, Dictionaire Sciences Naturelle. i, 1816, 339. 



(B 39, C ;i(il, R 44',), C 532, U 349.) 



Geographical range: Northern portions of northern hemisphere, chieflj' in' 

 mountainous regions. 



It is questionable if at the present cla)^ tlie Golden Eagle breeds to any 

 extent witliin the more thickly settled portions of the United States east of 

 the Mississip[)i River. An isolated pair, here and there, may perhaps still 

 be found in the wildest mountain regions of the New England States, the 

 Adirondacks of northern New York, tlie mountains of the two Virginias, Ken- 

 tucky, Tennessee, northern Georgia, and North Carolina. In the last men- 

 tioned State they are to-day far more likely to be found than in the other 

 localities. It probably occui's in Minnesota. In the West this bird, while 

 nowhere especially common, seems nevertheless to be pretty generally dis- 

 tributed from northwestern Texas, through New Mexico, Arizona, and Cali- 

 fornia, northward to the Arctic Ocean. In the interior Rocky Mountain 

 region it is fairly common; while in portions of California it niay be called 

 common, and it is likewise so in Alaska and the adjacent islands. In the 

 eastern part of its range, as well as in the Rocky Mountains and the neigh- 

 boring ranges on either side, the Golden Eagle resorts almost exclusively 

 to the most inaccessible cliffs for the purpose o'i niditication. In the extensive 

 prairie regions of the West, where tliere are no such localities to be found, 

 steep perpendicular blufts on the Imnks of streams, and occasionally trees, 

 are utilized. Tliis appears also to be the case in tlie fur countries in British 

 North America, where Mr. R. MacFarlane took a numljer of their nests in 

 such situations. On the Pacific coast, especially in California and Oregon, 

 trees seem to be the favorite sites; usually large pines or oaks are pre- 

 ferred to high cliffs, which in many instances are available, in close proximity 

 to the trees. This applies more pai-ticularly to the Blue Mountain region of 

 Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, where I have personally observed such to 

 be the fact. 



Notwithstanding the many sensational stories of the fierceness and 

 prowess of the Golden Eagle, especial! v in the defense of its eyrie, from my 

 own observations I must confess that if not an arrant coward, it certainly 

 is the most indifi"erent bird, in respect to the care of its eggs and young, I 

 have ever seen. This may possibly be due more to utter parental indifl:er- 

 ence than to actual cowardice, as three of these birds, an adult male caught 

 in a trap, and a pair of 3'oung, male and female, taken from the nest when 

 about three weeks old and raised bv ine, did not seem to be deficient in 

 spirit, by any means, and wei-e always i-eady to attack anything and every- 

 thing, on the slightest provocation. 



