^°l9of ^] Cameron, The Golden Eagle in Montana. 257 



actual destruction by the eagles. During the deer-stalking season, 

 in autumn, eagles find a supplementary food supply in the offal of 

 deer. For a long time in Scotland it was thought doubtful if the 

 Golden Eagle ever struck at flying birds, but Mr. Seton P. Gordon 

 has conclusively shown that it does so with the wing, and that 

 many grouse and ptarmigan are thus dashed to the ground.^ 



To come back to Montana: during the winter of 1906-07 the 

 Knowlton eagles fed almost entirely on carrion, and three of these 

 birds were regular evening visitors to some cattle carcasses in the 

 willows and box elders along the creek where I lived. A collie 

 used to slink away to this place at sunset, whose disappointed 

 barking often signalled the presence of the royal birds, which kept 

 him at a respectful distance. It was the dog which first brought 

 this habit of the eagles to my notice, as, hearing him bark, I went 

 to find out if a wolf {Canis lupus var. occidentalis) or other wild 

 animal was guarding the carrion. 



The winter of 1906-07 was the most severe in my eighteen 

 years' Montana experience. For two months the snow lay a foot 

 deep and upwards on the level, and the eagles doubtless found it a 

 difficult matter to obtain sustenance. The Sharp-tailed Grouse 

 and jack-rabbits burrowed into the drifts, and during part v.. 

 period the frozen cattle carcasses were proof against the eagles' 

 bills. At Knowlton, on January 14, the thermometer registered 

 — 34° at 9 A. M., and all day the spirit never rose above -16°, while 

 on January 15, the temperature varied between -12° at 9 A. M. 

 and -16° at 6 p. m. The famished eagles were compelled to 

 unusual effort, and Mr. R. L. Anderson (who has a ranch in this 

 locality) most kindly sent me a full account of the following re- 

 markable incident. In the middle of January, he was riding two 

 miles below his ranch on the south fork of Cottonwood Creek and 

 suddenly came close upon three Golden Eagles which were devour- 

 ing an adult buck antelope (Anfilocapra americana) in a little draw. 



Upon his appearance the eagles endeavored to take wing, but 

 all found great difficulty in doing so, " and hopped and fluttered 

 along on the snow for a considerable distance before being able to 

 rise." Despite the bitterly cold weather, the antelope was warm 



1 Country Life, Jan. 27, 1906. 



