THE GOLDEN EAGLE IN WYOMING 



THE Golden Eagle ranges throughout the mountainous parts of 

 l)()th the Old and the New World. In North America it is 

 now very rare east of the Rocky Mountains, but from the 

 Rockies west to the Pacific, and north to Alaska, it is not uncommon. 

 In the mountains, the bird nests in cliffs, but in California it often builds 

 in trees, white oaks being frequently chosen. 



Although the Golden Eagle is powerful enough to prove a dangerous 

 antagonist, it never attacks man, in spite of sensational stories to the con- 

 trary. Even when its nest is approached, the bird makes no attempt to 

 protect its young, but either disappears entirely, or, calling, circles high 

 in the air. 



Eagles, like most raptorial l)irds, nest early in the year. They 

 usually lay but two eggs, which hatch after thirty-five days' incubation. 

 The young remain in the nest about two months. The natural food of 

 the Golden Eagle in the west consists chiefly of small mammals of various 

 kinds, such as prairie dogs, rabbits, squirrels, spermophiles and rats, 

 together with ducks, geese and grouse. Occasionally it takes a young 

 deer or antelope. On the wdiole, however, under natural conditions, 

 the Golden Eagle is a beneficial bird because of the large number of 

 rodents it destroys. But where sheep have l)een introduced, the (jolden 

 Eagle may become more or less injurious through its acquired habit of 

 preying on Iambs. 



Four species of Eagles have been recorded from America north of 

 Mexico. Of these the Gray Sea Eagle, an Old World species, is foimd 

 in this hemisphere only in Alaska; and the Harpy Eagle, a tropical 

 species, has been recorded but once, from Texas. This leaves virtually 

 only two North American species, the Golden and the Bald Eagle. 

 When the Bald Eagle is mature, wath a white head and tail, the two 

 species are very unlike in color, but before the Bald Eagle acquires its 

 distinctive marks, it bears a general resemblance to the Golden Eagle. 

 The latter, however, has the legs feathered to the toes, while in the 

 former the lower part of the legs (tarsi) is bare. 



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