THE GOLDEN EAGLE. 263 



89. Aquila chrysaetos (Linn^us) . 



GOLDEN EAGLE. 



Falco chrysaetos Liistn^us, Systema ISTaturse, ed. 10, i, 1758, 88. 

 Aquila chrysaetus Dumont, Dictioiiaire Sciences Naturelle, i, 1816, 339. 

 (B 39, C 361, R 449, C 533, U 349.) 



Geographical range: Northern portions of northern liemisphere, chiefly in 

 mountainous regions. 



It is questionable if at the present day the Golden Eagle breeds to any 

 extent within the more thickly settled portions of the United States east of 

 the Mississippi River. An isolated pair, here and there, may perhaps still 

 be found in the wildest mountain regions of the New England States, the 

 Adirondacks of northern New York, the mountains of the two Virginias, Ken- 

 tucky, Tennessee, northern Georgia, and North Carolina. In the last men- 

 tioned State they are to-day far more likely to be found than in the other 

 localities. It probably occurs in Minnesota. In the West this bird, while 

 nowhere especially common, seems nevertheless to be pretty generally dis- 

 tributed from northwestern Texas, through New Mexico, Arizona, and Cali- 

 fornia, northward to the Arctic Ocean. In the interior Rocky Mountain 

 region it is fairly common; while in portions of California it may be called 

 common, and it is likewise so in Alaska and the adjacent islands. In the 

 eastern part of its range, as well as in the Rocky Mountains and the neigh- 

 boring ranges on either side, the Golden Eagle resorts almost exclusively 

 to the most inaccessible cliffs for the purpose o'l nidification. In the extensive 

 prairie regions of the West, where there are no such localities to be found, 

 steep perpendicular bluffs on the banks of streams, and occasionally trees, 

 are utilized. This appears also to be the case in the fur countries in British 

 North America, where Mr. R. MacFarlane took a number of their nests in 

 such situations. On the Pacific coast, especially in California and Oregon, 

 trees seem to be the favorite sites; usually large pines or oaks are pre- 

 ferred to high cliffs, which in many instances are available, in close proximity 

 to the trees. This applies more particularly to the Blue Mountain region of 

 Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, where I have personally observed such to 

 be the fact. 



Notwithstanding the many sensational stories of the fierceness and 

 prowess of the Golden Eagle, especially in the defense 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 indiffer- 

 ence 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 

 about three weeks old and raised by me, did not seem to be deficient in 

 spirit, by any means, and were always ready to attack anything and every- 

 thing, on the slightest provocation. 



