EAGLES 227 



that although in rocky districts the nests are situated on ledges of cliffs or precipices, 

 yet they are by no means always in inaccessible places. As the nest is repaired 

 year after year, it eventually attains an enormous size if its owners are undisturbed. 

 A correspondent writing to Captain Bendire from Colorado states that he has seen 

 a nest over seven feet in height, and with a diameter of fully six feet, which he 

 estimated to contain two cart-loads of material. In that state the old nests are 

 repaired as early as February ; a bough of evergreen being invariably laid on each, 

 as if to mark its being occupied. In California the nests are always in trees ; and, 

 although generally lined witli vegetable substances, an instance has been observed 

 where the lining was of feathers, evidently from the breast of one of the parents. 

 One case is on record where a golden eagle built in Scotland in a tree. During 

 the breeding-season each pair of golden eagles usually has a definite region over 

 which they hunt, and into which no others intrude. In Oregon the nests are 

 stated to be at distances of as much as twenty miles apart, although in California 

 from two to six miles is given as tlie width of the range of a pair of these 

 birds. The eggs are usually two in number, but may be three, while four 

 have been occasionally taken. Although fairly constant in size, they are subject 

 to extreme variation in colour; some being pure white, while others are more 

 or less blotched with shades of red or purplish brown. In Scotland the eggs are 

 commonly hatched in the latter part of April; the newly -born nestlings being 

 clothed in pure white down, which, however, is soon replaced by the dark first 

 plumage. 



With regard to its courage, Captain Bendire writes that " notwithstanding the 

 many sensational stories of the fierceness and prowess of the golden eagle, especi- 

 ally in the defence of its eyrie, from my own observations I must confess that, 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. This may possibly be due more to utter 

 parental indifference than to actual cowardice, as three of these birds, an adult 

 male caught in a trap, and a pair of young — male and female — taken from the nest 

 when three years old and raised by me, did not seem to be deficient in spirit by 

 any means, and were always ready to attack anything and everything on the 

 slightest provocation." In captivity the golden eagle is far more tractable than 

 the sea-eagles ; and in Central Asia, where it is known as the birkut, or karakush, 

 it is trained to kill mammals and large birds. Dr. Scully writes that the trained 

 bird " is always kept hooded when it is indoors, except when about to be fed, and 

 the method of carrjdng it in the chase is the following. The man who is to carry 

 the eagle is mounted on a pony and has his right hand and wrist protected by a 

 thick gauntlet. A crutch, consisting of a straight piece of stick carrying a curved 

 cross-piece of horn or wood — the concavity being directed upwards — is attached to 

 the front of the saddle ; the man grasps the cross-piece of the crutch with his 

 gloved hand, and the eagle then perches on his wrist." 



. , Although frequently mistaken in the later stages of its immature 



Imperial Eagle. o -1 ./ & 



plumage for the preceding species, the imperial eagle (Aqitila heliaca) 

 is really very distinct, and may be easily recognised in the adult state by the more 

 or less conspicuous white patch on the scapulars. In size it is smaller than tlie 

 golden eagle, with less difference between the two sexes ; the length of the female 



