FALCONID.E — THE FALCONS. 



317 



Aquila canadensis. 



in the Ibis of 1861 (p. 112), gives a very interesting account of a pair of 

 Golden Eagles, which the previous season built their nest in a large Scotch 

 fir-tree, in a wood on the southern bank of Glen Lyon, in Perthshire, within 

 a few hundred yards of Meggerine 

 Castle. Four eggs were laid, two 

 of which were hatched. The nest 

 was one of the Eagles' own con- 

 struction, and is specially interest- 

 ing from being in such near prox- 

 imity to human habitations. Mr. 

 Tristram (Ibis, 1859, p. 283, in 

 his valuable note on the birds of 

 North Africa), while he never ob- 

 served this Eagle in any of the cliffs 

 among the mountain ranges of the 

 desert, found it almost gregarious, 

 so abundant was it among the Day- 

 ets. In one wood he saw no less 

 than seven pairs of the Eagles, each 

 pair with a nest. Tliere were, be- 

 sides, many unoccupied nests, and, indeed, very few terebintlis of any size 

 were without a huge platform of sticks on the topmost boughs. The birds 

 were undisturbed, and consequently very fearless. On the other hand Mr. 

 Salvin, in the same volume (p. 180) among the mountains of Eastern Atlas, 

 describes very diflerent manner of life in the same birds. " Whatever rock a 

 pair may choose for their eyrie, there they reign alone in dignified solitude, nor 

 do they allow a single Vulture, Kite, or indeed any other species of rapacious 

 bird, to occupy with their nest a single spot in the same rock, however eligible 

 for the purpose ; nor are these other species ever to be seen in the haunts of 

 their exclusive majesties. The whole southern precipice at Djebel Dekma 

 was thus tenanted by a single pair of this Eagle, as also several other rocks 

 that came under our notice. Instances of the Golden Eagle building in 

 trees were by no means of unfrequent occurrence." 



The extreme southern range of the European bird, its gregarious habit, 

 and the frequency of its building in trees, are all peculiarities not observed 

 in the American form. They are not necessarily conclusive, but are at least 

 suggestive. 



The Golden Eagle in this country usually constructs its nest on the sides 

 of steep, rocky crags, where its materials are coarsely heaped together on a 

 projecting shelf of rock. These consist of large sticks, loosely arranged, and 

 lined with other softer materials. In rare instances they are said to build 

 on trees, where rocky cliffs are not to be met with. The eggs are usually 

 three in number ; sometimes two, or only one. Mr. Audubon describes them 

 as measuring 3.50 inches in length by 2.50 in breadth ; the shell thick and 



