72 STORIES OF BIRD LIFE 



whicli it is made consists largely of dead twigs and small 

 pine brandies. These usually have the bark still adhering. 

 Some are only a few inches in length, while others are two 

 feet long. The largest stick I have seen in the nest was 

 three and one-half feet in length, and measured at its great- 

 est circumference nearly four inches. The structure is 

 slightly basin shaped on top, the depression in the center 

 being about four -inches deep. This I once found lined 

 with dry moss which the birds had gathered by the lake 

 shore when the water was low. 



Such is the domicile of a pair of shrewd old eagles that 

 have long been a terror to the wild ducks which in winter 

 gather on the neighboring lake, and a source of continual 

 annoyance to the sheep raisers of the surrounding country 

 in summer. Their careers would long ago have been cut 

 short if the plans of any of the numerous hunting expedi- 

 tions against them could have been successfully carried 

 out. Poison has been repeatedly set, and scores of rifle 

 balls have sung their way through the forest or across the 

 lake to strike out the lives of these troublesome enemies. 

 But the bald eagles lived on unharmed. 



Exasperated at the number of lambs carried out of his 

 pasture one year by these birds, the owner vowed that he 

 would never know happiness again until he had killed at 

 least one of the robbers. But no opportunity came to him 



