78 THE GOLDEN EAGLE— RING-TAIL. 



procured in the Washington marlcet. In northern New York and 

 in the mountainous portions of Maine, New Hampshire and Ver- 

 mont, according to Dr. Brewer, it has been observed to breed, but 

 so inaccessible is the position or site chosen that but few collectors 

 have been so fortunate as to procure the eggs. Dr. Bryant met 

 with a single individual of this species at Bras D'Or in the Gulf of 

 St. Lawrence. In Nova Scotia there are several instances of its 

 occurrence, but Dr. J. Bernard Gilpin records it as rare. He 

 mentions one that was kept in confinement for several years by 

 the late Dr. VanBuskirk ; a pair trapped in the eastern counties 

 by Mr. Downs ; two other mounted specimens in St. John, N.B., 

 and a very fine bird killed at Pictou by a woman. Dr. Gilpin 

 further remarks : — " The adult bird is easily distinguished, and in 

 the young the feathered tarsi, absence of scutellation on the tarsi, 

 paler color, and less robust, or, as it were, less fatty look of legs 

 and toes, distinguished it from the young of the bald. The most 

 distinguishing mark on those I have seen was the prolongation of 

 the loose feathers or hackles from the front and sides of the head 

 to the shoulders. These, tipped with pale golden, and semi-erect, 

 gave the bird a handsome crest, and added much to the intrepid 

 look and stern eye, brow, and well curved, well hooked beak. The 

 other parts were deep liver brown, the primaries black, and the 

 shoulders rather lighter than the back." Dr. Gilpin also mentions 

 some facts relating to this bird in captivity, illustrating its ferocity. 

 The one we have alluded to as kept by Dr. VanBuskirk was ex- 

 ceedingly fierce. It attacked anybody approaching it, striking 

 their legs and ankles with its talons. " This same bird pounced 

 upon and seized a large tom-cat that was attracted under his 

 perch by the fragments of meat dropped about, and immediately 

 devoured it, paying not the slightest heed to its frantic cries and 

 desperate contortions." 



The eggs of the Golden Eagle have not to my knowledge 

 been taken in Canada. Even in 1S57 Dr. Brewer had no Amer- 

 ican specimens for description. There are, however, now in the 

 Smithsonian Institution at Washington "no less than a dozen 

 examples," and of these Coues gives the following notice : — 



