COUES ON BIRDS OF DAKOTA AND MONTANA. 627 



AQUILA CHRYSAETUS, (Linn.) 



Golden Eagle. 



The Golden Eagle, though an inhabitant of the region at large, was 

 only observed in one locality, at the Sweetgrass Hills, where one or 

 more were seen very frequently. On one of the small affluents of the 

 Milk Eiver, a little west of the hills, two nests were found, built directly 

 on level ground, yet at the brink of a cut-bank, which seemed to answer 

 as the apology for the crag to which the bird usually resorts. Although 

 the nests were empty and deserted, there can be no reasonable doubt of 

 their belonging to the Golden Eagle — they were far too large to be those 

 of any Hawk, and there was no trace of the presence of Bald Eagles in 

 this dry country. One that I examined carefully was placed on the 

 edge of a very slight embankment, not so steep that I could not easily 

 walk up to it. It was rather on the brow of a hillock than on the brink 

 of a cliff. It was composed of sticks, some as large as a man's wrist, 

 brushwood, and bunches of grass and weeds, with masses of earth still 

 adhering to the roots. The diameter was about four feet in one direc- 

 tion and three in the other, owing to the conformation of the ground. 

 The mass of matCfrial a,veraged about six inches in depth. The other 

 nest was described to me as considerably larger. Both were empty and 

 apparently deserted. 



HALIAETUS LEUCOOEPHALUS, {Linn.) Savig. 

 Bald Eagle. 



"While steaming down the Eed Eiver from Morehead to Pembina, we 

 frequently saw Bald Eagles sailing overhead, and several nests were 

 noticed upon the tops of tall, isolated trees as we passed along. Upon 

 one of the nests the parent was observed sitting, but whether incubat- 

 ing or brooding her young could not of course be ascertained. This 

 was the last week in May. There was a young bird in the gray plum- 

 age in confinement at Fort Pembina, and I was informed that it had 

 been procured in the vicinity. 



Three "kinds" of Eagles, aside from the Golden Eagle, which is not 

 generally very well known in the United States, are usually recognized 

 by the people, who can hardly be convinced that they are stages of 

 plumage of the present species: these are the "black", "gray", and 

 "bald" Eagle — names which respectively indicate the plumages of the 

 first, second, and third years of the bird's life. 



CATHAETES AUEA, (Liwi.) III. 



Turkey Buzzard. 



Frequently seen in the Eed Eiver region. My note-books make no 

 mention of its occurrence during the second season, but it is not to be 

 supposed absent, even if it was not observed. It is probably not resi- 

 dent in this country, and I saw none during the colder months at Fort 



