Kites, Hawks, Eagles, etc. 



that arrows plumed with eagle quills certainly reach the heart of 

 an enemy ; but what connection there may or may not be be- 

 tween these beliefs and those of our redskins no ethnologist has 

 said. 



Larger than the European golden eagle, and in every way 

 "better," our golden eagle "is a clean, trim-looking, handsome 

 bird," says Captain Bendire, "keen sighted, rather shy and wary 

 at all times, even in thinly settled parts of the country, swift of 

 flight, strong and powerful of body, and more than a match for 

 any animal of similar size. In the West, where food is still 

 plenty, their bill of fare is quite varied. This, I am informed, in- 

 cludes, occasionally, young fawns of antelope and deer, but 

 more frequently small mammals of different kinds, as the yellow- 

 bellied marmot, prairie dogs, hares, wood rats, squirrels, and 

 smaller rodents, water fowl, from wild geese to the smaller 

 ducks and waders, grouse and sage fowl. On the extensive 

 sheep ranches they are said to be occasionally quite destructive 

 to young lambs." Several seemingly well authenticated cases 

 of the golden eagle carrying off very young children are recorded 

 in this country and Europe, but our authorities sneer at them. 



Strangely enough, a pair of eagles, instead of being fiercely 

 aggressive, as one would suppose, when their nest is ap- 

 proached, are quite indifferent and will circle around at a great 

 height and watch the intruder with unimpassioned calm, or 

 else entirely disappear. Trees or rocky cliffs seem to be chosen 

 for nesting sites indiscriminately, the abundance of food in any 

 vicinity being their first consideration in the choice of a home. 

 Each pair of eagles have their fixed range of five or six miles, or 

 more, and become so attached to it only persistent persecution 

 will drive them away. Some nests are quite five feet in diam- 

 eter, and contain twigs, weeds, hay, cattle hair, and feathers 

 enough to fill a wagon ; others are no larger than a hen hawk's ; 

 nearly all are flat on top, with just enough depression to bring 

 the top of the egg on a level with the side. For a few days 

 before the eggs are laid, a pair of eagles will perch, side by side, 

 hours at a time, an attitude common to many birds of prey at 

 this tender season. Two or three dull white, roughly granu- 

 lated eggs, sometimes plain, more often blotched or speckled 

 with brown, appear at an interval of two or three days, or even 

 a week ; after four weeks of constant incubating by both par- 



325 



