240 The Falcon-like Birds 



with grayish. The young are much paler or even whitish, especially on the 

 under parts and the tail. 



From time immemorial this Eagle has been taken as the emblem of all that 

 is noble and courageous, but as so many of our cherished ideals have been 

 shattered in the cold light of truth, so must our estimate in this instance give 

 way before undeniable facts. On this point Major Bendire says: "Notwith- 

 standing the many sensational stories of the fierceness and prowess of the Golden 

 Eagle, especially in defense of its eyrie, from my own observations I must con- 

 fess, if not an arrant coward, it certainly is the most indifferent bird, in respect 

 to the care of its eggs and young, I have ever seen." In spite of this, as Bendire 

 continues, it "is a clean, trim-looking, handsome bird, keen-sighted, rather 

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

 flight, strong and powerful in body, and more than a match for any animal 

 of similar size." Never very abundant, it has now probably disappeared almost 

 entirely as a nesting species east of the Mississippi River, although an occasional 

 pair may linger in the more mountainous portions of the Adirondacks of New 

 York, the New England States, etc. Beyond the Mississippi it is quite generally 

 distributed, becoming fairly common in the interior Rocky Mountain region. 

 The story is the same on the other side of the Atlantic, for while it once bred in 

 England and Wales, it has gradually retreated farther and farther north, and 

 is now restricted during the nesting season to the Highlands and western islands 

 of Scotland. In other portions of Europe and Asia it is still fairly common. 

 The nesting site is usually selected in some wild and inaccessible place, as a rocky 

 ledge, a perpendicular bluff on the bank of a stream, or, these failing, a large 

 tree. The nest is a bulky affair of large sticks and is often used for many years. 

 One found by Major Bendire near Camp Harney, Oregon, " situated in a large 

 pine tree close to the trunk and about fifty feet from the ground, was three and 

 one half feet high by three feet wide. It consisted of large sticks, some of 

 them over two inches in diameter, and was sparingly lined with bits of juniper 

 bark, pine needles, and green fir tops, evidently broken off by the birds." A 

 nest described by a correspondent of Bendire's must have contained two wagon 

 loads of material and was over seven feet high and quite six feet wide on its 

 upper surface. The eggs are generally two, rarely three, in number, being 

 two and one half to three inches long, of a dirty white ground-color, and usually 

 thickly blotched and spotted with various hues of brown and purplish. The 

 food of the Golden Eagle consists largely of prey captured by itself, though it 

 does not entirely disdain animals killed by another, and under stress of cir- 

 cumstances will even feed on carrion. This latter condition appears to prevail 

 more among the Old World representatives of the species, whereas in America 

 their food consists of small mammals, birds of various kinds, and an occasional 

 young lamb. The following graphic account of the capture of a jack rabbit 

 by a pair of Golden Eagles is given by Mr. W r . L. Atkinson: " The Eagles circled 

 about him at a height of about thirty feet; first one would swoop down on the 

 rabbit and then the other, but the result was always the same, for the rabbit 

 was quick enough to dodge just as the birds struck at him. The chase was 



