76 THE GOLDE>f EAGLE— RING-TAIL. 



•I have never yet during any expedition met with this Eagle 

 in its eyry ; but have examined, and made long journeys on pur- 

 pose to examine, some of their abandoned nesting sites. One of 

 these was located on the great Hastings Road in Ontario, and in 

 proximity to the York branch of the Madawaska river. Here in 

 a ledge in the face of an abrupt wall-like cliff, known far and near 

 as the " Eagles Nest Cliff," a pair of Eagles had built a large nest 

 and occupied it regularly for a great number of years. Old settlers 

 related stories told them by their parents concerning this nesting 

 site, but all that I could definitely learn was that some thirty years 

 before my visit to the place (1867) one, or both of the birds, had 

 been killed, and none had since been seen near it. Another nest- 

 ing site, but likewise now abandoned, was some miles to the 

 eastward of that just mentioned, and in a precipice or wall of rock 

 rising from the waters of Mazinaw Lake in Barrie township. This 

 we reached by the Addington road, running northward from Nap- 

 anee, and which skirts the western shore of the lake just named. 

 The " Mazinaw Cliff" is also a far-famed object. It rises abruptly 

 irom the water to the height of about 265 feet, and its face is 

 ornamented with Indian paintings and hieroglj'phics. Here also 

 one or more pairs of these birds had been in the habit of resorting 

 to raise their young ; but long previous to our visit to the locality 

 the inroads of the lumber-men had frightened them off to parts 

 even more rugged and remote. From " Mazinaw Cliff" the country 

 on all sides is occupied by high bare hills of red granite and gneiss, 

 and is ot the most rugged and barren description. It must have 

 at one time been a grand resort for the Golden Eagle, and from 

 what I have gathered from old settlers in these parts, the birds 

 had been unusually abundant. The Golden Eagle, however, is yet 

 occasionally seen hovering over the " Opeonga Hills," in eastern 

 Ontario ; and to the northward of the Ottawa river it is of occa- 

 sional occurrence. I have seen several beautiful specimens brought 

 into Belleville from the back country, but from what particular 

 part I could not ascertain. .Several have also been taken in the 

 vicinity of Toronto, Three Rivers, Quebec, and the north shore 

 of the St. Lawrence. Mr. J. M. Lemoine of Quebec sends me an 

 account of the capture of four of these magnificent Eagles at St. 



