278 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



"About the middle of the month I found smother nest of this species on 

 an island in the upper part of the bay, about f> miles from the former. This 

 was a massive structure, also built on the {round, at leasr <! feet lii^'li and "> 

 feet in diameter. I saw it fully 2 miles awav, and from that distance it looked 

 like a monument. Although out of our course, and in a secluded part of the 

 bay, it so aroused my curiosity that I ordered my boatman to pull to it. It 

 contained a single young Eagle, nearly half grown. This island was larger 

 and also a little higher than the first, and a solitary small tree was growing 

 on it some 2 rods from the nest, Otherwise it was quite bare. This nest 

 was quite a prominent object and was visible for miles. It was built with 

 surprising regularity, appeared to be a perfect circle, and the sides smooth 

 and almost perpendicular. The top sloped slightly toward the center where 

 the eaglet sat, which viciously snapped at me as I looked over the edge of 

 the nest. It was built of sticks and had evidently been raised to the present 

 height by successive yearly additions, as the lower half had begun to decay, 

 and -a few inches of the top had evidently been recently added. Both parent 

 birds attacked us with great fury, screaming and striking at us with their 

 talons; while examining the nest they came within a few feet of me and I 

 was glad to retire. This pair were both adult birds. Sometime later, as my 

 assistant was taking the eggs from a nest in a tree, he was set upon by both 

 the Eagles, and if he had not had a good stick to defend himself, I feel sure 

 they would have struck him ; as it was, they approached within 3 feet of him. 

 These are the only two instances coming under my observation where any 

 attempt was made to defend the nest." 



That the Bald Eagle shows considerable courage at times in the defense 

 of its nest, even without any provocation, I can corroborate from personal 

 observation. In the months of March and April, 1883, I repeatedly visited 

 a low marshy swamp at the head of Wood River, about 2 miles north- 

 east of Fort Klamath, Oregon; the object of these visits being to locate 

 the nest of a pair of Goshawks, which committed daily depredations among 

 the poultry at the post, and which always disappeared in this direction. A 

 number of large aspens and several dense groves of conifers were scattered 

 through this marsh, as well as a few immense pine trees. 



A pair of Bald Eagles nested in one of the largest of these pines, and 

 at no time could I approach this tree nearer than 100 yards without one of 

 these birds, probably the male, swooping down at me, sometimes as close as 

 20 feet, lustily screaming, and giving me plainly to understand that I had 

 no business in that particular vicinity. 



These Eagles seem to nest in trees by preference, and only where such 

 are wanting will they resort to cliffs or to the shelves found occasionally 

 on the river bluffs. They are far more abundant along the seashore than 

 in the interior, but they are by no means uncommon in suitable localities 

 on the larger inland lakes. 



At the Klamath Lakes they are especially numerous, and I have repeat- 

 edly seen a dozen within a distance of ;? miles. Some of our earlier writers 



