ON THE PRAIRIE 25 



ways fat from feeding on the bodies of the 

 innocents they have murdered. If discov- 

 ered by a fox or coyote during its first few 

 of existence a little fawn has no chance 

 of life, although the mother, if present, will 

 fight desperately for it; but after it has ac- 

 quired the use of its legs it has no more to 

 fear than have any of the older ones. 



Sometimes the fawns fall victims to the 

 great Golden Eagle. This grand bird, the 

 War Eagle of the Sioux, is not very common 

 in the Bad Lands, but is sometimes still seen 

 with us; and, as everywhere else, its mere 

 presence adds a certain grandeur to its lonely 

 haunts. Two or three years ago a nest was 

 found by one of my men on the face of an 

 almost inaccessible cliff, and a young bird 

 was taken out from it and reared in a 

 roughly extemporized cage. Wherever the 

 eagle exists it holds undisputed sway over 

 every thing whose size does not protect it 

 from the great bird's beak and talons; not 

 only does it feed on hares, grouse, and ducks, 

 but it will also attack the young fawns of the 



