129 



Economic Status. Though our largest Hawk, it is the least harmful 

 one. Of 45 stomachs examined, 40 contained mice; 5, other mammals; 

 1, lizard; 1, empty. A record like this is enough to condemn the indis- 

 criminate killing of Hawks. The feet of the Rough-leg are weak and 

 incapable of holding large prey; it is, therefore, a mouse-hawk par excel- 

 lence. It also feeds on grasshoppers and has been known at times to do 

 most excellent work controlling plagues of these destructive insects. 



Genera — Aquila and Haliceetus. Eagles. 



The Eagles are our largest birds of prey. Size alone will differentiate 

 them from the Hawks. Any bird of prey over 30 inches long or 6 feet in 

 extent is an Eagle. Contrary to popular conception, the Eagle is not the 

 noble bird of prey usually pictured. It is typically an overgrown Buzzard. 

 Much of its quarry is of large size, but it is rarely dangerous to human 

 interests. In some sections young lambs are occasionally threatened, 

 but in eastern Canada Eagles can be looked upon more as scavengers 

 than anything else, taking little of economic value and subsisting mostly 

 on offal. 



349. Golden Eagle, fh. — l'aigle dore. Aquila chrysaetos. L, 30. A large, 

 dark brown Eagle, the head suffused with faint ochraceous suggesting the name Golden 

 and the basal half of tail with broken greyish bars against dull white. Tarsus feathered 

 to the toes. 



Distinctions. The Golden Eagle is altogether different from the adult Bald Eagle, 

 but very similar to the juvenile. It can, however, in all plumages be identified by its 

 feathered tarsus, the Bald Eagle having at all times bare, bright yellow legs. 



Nesting. On cliffs, rock ledges, or in trees. 



Distribution. Over the temperate region of both hemispheres. In America, it 

 ranges over all the north country excepting the northern extreme, extending south into 

 Mexico in the western plains and mountains and down along the highlands of the east. 

 Practically only a straggler in the Great Lakes region. 



The Golden Eagle is too rare in eastern Canada to receive more than 

 passing mention here. It is a magnificent bird and having less of the 

 scavenger and robber in its nature it fits the popular conception of the 

 king of birds better than does its close relative the Bald Eagle. 



Economic Status. The economic view of this bird must be affected 

 largely by local conditions. It feeds principally on mammals and its 

 large size allows it to take those of considerable weight. Most of its food 

 is naturally wild stock — ground-hogs, rabbits, and rodent pests — but 

 newly-born animals are taken on opportunity. In the western sheep 

 country the depredations of numbers of Golden Eagles may be serious, 

 but are never so in the east. Fortunately the species is too rare in eastern 

 Canada to cause strong objection to it; in fact to see an average of a single 

 bird a year would be rather remarkable. Therefore, the occasional 

 presence of one of these magnificent birds in the east can be looked for with 

 pleasure rather than alarm. On occasion the species devours carrion, 

 but does not seem to depend upon it as does its relative the Bald Eagle. 



352. Bald Eagle. American eagle, white-headed eagle, fb. — l'aigle a tete 

 blanche. Haliceetus leucocephalus. L, 32 • 85. The adult is dark brown with white head, 

 neck, and tail. The juvenile is all brown with more or less suggestion of the coming white, 

 depending upon age. 



