BIRDS OF PREY 197 



eagles, although the nests are often placed not to exceed 

 fifty feet above the ground, in the crotch of a large tree 

 standing in a remote canon. The immense nests are con- 

 structed of sticks, sod, and coarse grass. Two or three 

 white eggs, splashed and blotched with lilac, pale brown, and 

 chestnut, are laid in February and March. The younger 

 birds appear to deposit the largest eggs. The period of 

 incubation is between four and five weeks, and the young 

 do not leave the nest until they are nearly one hundred days 

 old. The female eagle performs the duties of incubation, 

 and is supplied with food by her mate. Golden eagles 

 remain paired for life, and often attain the age of seventy 

 to one hundred years. 



BALD EAGLE 



It is true that most mountainous regions are inhabited 

 by eagles, but the birds also live in the flat sections where 

 the country may be sparsely settled. 



Bald Eagles range from the Atlantic to the Pacific, 

 south to the Gulf, and northward to the Arctic Circle, 

 breeding practically throughout their range. Naturally, 

 species which inhabit the more rigorous sections of our con- 

 tinent are the hardiest birds, and on examination the eagles 

 captured from the Great Lakes region north to Alaska are 

 found to average several inches longer than those of the 

 South, called, respectively. Northern Bald Eagle and Bald 

 Eagle. Several pairs of bald eagles still roam over the 

 northern portions of Indiana and Illinois along the Kan- 

 kakee and Ilhnois rivers. The white plumage on the head 



