266 LIFE HISTORIES OP NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



examined myself or have had examined by others; it would seem to be 

 employed as a badge of occupancy. 



"I am familiar with a case in which the female was shot in the early 

 part of the winter. When the nesting time came around the male was con- 

 stantly about the nest for days, screaming in the most frantic manner; when 

 the time arrived for the eggs to be there, as was the case the pre\dous 

 season, with the assistance of a rope let down from above, I climbed to the 

 site to find nothing new about the nest but a small fresh branch of ever- 

 green. I afterwards learned that the female had been shot. 



"My experience has been that the birds are in no way aggressive or even 

 demonstrative while being robbed of their eggs; circling round at a great 

 height, from which they watch the proceedings with seeming indifference." 



In an interesting article on the nesting habits of the Golden Eagle m 

 Zoe (Vol. I, April, 1890, No. 2, pp. 42-44), Mr. H. R. Taylor makes the follow- 

 ing statements: "The sitting bird is said to leave the eggs uncovered for 

 several hours after 12 m. on sunny days, while it takes recreation in flying 

 with its mate. * * * After several years' study of these Eagles the writer 

 feels that he has formed the acquaintance of a number of individuals of this 

 species, and this purely from the regularity of their habits. The first Eagle 

 I ever saw in Santa Clara County was moving about the grassy top of a 

 big hill, and on nearly every day thereafter I observed him at his favorite 

 playground. On my visit the year following he was still doing "lookout" 

 duty at his old post. The nest of this Eagle had a curious ornament to the 

 interior in the shape of a large 'soap root.' The new nest, built the year 

 after, also contained a soap root (probably Chlorogalum pomeridil), which fact 

 is of interest as showing the individuality of my feathered friend. Another 

 Eagle I know has a singular predilection when nest-building for grain 

 sacks, which it uses chiefly in the lining. "When I first discovered this Eagle's 

 nest there was one of these large sacks inside. The heavy storms of the 

 next winter dislodged its nest and in the new one built 1 was surprised and 

 interested to observe a grain sack. * * * 



"A cm-ious circumstance about the Eagles that make their home near 

 Sargents is that several pairs always seen there apparently do not nest. The 

 nature of the country in some of the hills is such that one accustomed to' 

 riding about might actually know every tree where the birds could build, 

 so that an undiscovered nest would be an impossibility. My friend showed 

 me a pair of Eagles that had lived in the hills just back of his house for 

 many years. He also pointed out to me their nest, which the Eagles 

 repaired last year but did not use. He says they have not laid since 1884, 

 when they had three eggs. This pair stay about the place all the year, 

 living largely (like the other Eagles thereabouts) on ground squirrels. They 

 are accustomed to roost in one particular tree. I heard them uttering their 

 peculiarly plaintive whistle in the mornings several times during- my stay. 



