312 THREE GOLDEN EAGLES 



my eye, and as the eagle came within range I 

 brought him down with the 8 bore, and reloading 

 ran out and picked him up. He was a handsome 

 bird, and I sat down in the blind, examining 

 his beautiful plumage and powerful talons. 



Suddenly I heard a shrill cry overhead, and 

 looking up saw two other eagles come together in 

 the air, either fighting or mating. It was then 

 early in May. 



Hastily raising the 8 bore again I fired, just 

 as they were separating, and both came down. 

 One was well hit and stone dead, and a stray pel- 

 let had broken the wing of the other. Three gol- 

 den eagles in about as many minutes was an am- 

 ple revenge for the loss of my shot at the geese ! 

 I remained there a few days more, and being 

 troubled no more by eagles I got seventeen geese 

 and one pot shot of five with "sure kill." The 

 measurements of the eagles were: 



1st: spread of wings, 5 feet 11 inches. 



2nd: spread of wings, 6 feet 7 inches. 



3rd: spread of wings, 6 feet 9 inches. 



The two last mentioned were those killed at one 

 shot. I had no means of weighing the birds. The 

 date was May 7th, 1895. 



The golden eagle is not common on this coast, 

 but the bald headed Haliatus leucociphalus is. 

 Both of them are terrors to geese and black ducks. 

 On the water they do not seem to mind them, but 

 if sitting on the shore they will invariably rise if 



