196 



THE GOLDEN EAGLE AS A PET. 



The foUowiug mention of the peculiarities of the 

 Golden Eagle in captivily I gleaned from conversation 

 with Mr, B. M. Everhart, the well-known botanist of 

 West Chester, Pa., who for several years kept one in 

 his yard. This bird, in consequence of a gun-shot 

 wound in the wing, was unable to ily off. All the yard 

 situated to the north and east of the house was known 

 as Nero's (bird's name) domain. Along the walk lead- 

 ing to my olllce was his perch, a dead tree stump some 

 eight feet high. AVhen satiated with food he would 

 sit there for hours at a time. If at any time during 

 the day a cat or domestic fowl happened to enter his 

 ground, it had to make a speedy departure or be killed. 

 The latter was mostly the case, for Nero- seldom "went 

 for'' anything without his capturing it. When I ne- 

 glected to give him his daily allowance (two pounds 

 meat), as was sometimes the case, he wandered about 

 the yard uttering a ventriloquial, gutteral sound, 

 which had the effect of bringing around him birds and 

 chickens. Occasionally the fc^rmer, and invariably 

 the latter, would be killed. Towards people, other 

 than myself, he displayed great animosity, this being 

 particularly the case with children and timorous indi- 

 viduals. One day Joshua Hoopes, a school teacher at 

 that time, brought a party of his boys to see the bird, 

 and I noticed one of their number, a j)uny and delicate 

 lad, the eagle continually eyed and several times en- 

 deavored to make at him. A female domestic, who 

 had annoyed him by throwing water on him and pok- 

 ing at him with a stick, he showed great antipathy to; 

 we were eventually obliged, for her personal safety 

 and our own convenience, to discharge the girl, ns she 

 could not go into- the yard without being attacked. 



