The Golden Eagle 



to the same nest upon alternate or else third years. If very much harassed, 

 the poor birds will give over nesting altogether, rather than desert the 

 scenes familiar from their infancy. 



And what with guns, automobiles, and oologists whose specialty is 

 "Raptores," the Golden Eagles are a vanishing race. Since my own com- 

 ing to California in the fall of 1910, I have witnessed a marked decrease 

 in their numbers, a reduction, I should say, of three-fourths in the twelve 

 years. In the early spring of 191 1 I visited, by invitation, the country 

 back of San Diego, long famous for Eagle nesting. We took a set from the 

 nest figured on p. 1704 on the 23rd of February. A summary page from my 

 field notebook under date of Feb. 25, 191 1, will explain what we found: 



"We spent the day exploring the mountain sides beyond Lakeside 

 and the valley of the San Diego. We revisited several old Eagle nesting 

 sites, four to be exact, but found no occupied nests. One colony contained 

 four nests, believed to be the product of one pair of birds, but no eggs or 

 signs of Eagles. Two of the nests were in good repair, and one of them had 

 evidently been used last year. Either these birds have retired under in- 

 cessant persecution or have been killed outright. One old Eagle's nest, 

 midway of a cliff 80 feet high, had been for some years occupied by a pair 

 of Peregrine Falcons, but even these birds were no longer in evidence. 

 Previous to our work our host had visited two of his most promising 

 prospects. One had been robbed by an amateur oologist, and the other 

 nest, although bearing evidences of recent repair, bore only stones which 

 some idler had flung upon it. Thus, in three days of strenuous work, 

 assisted by automobile, three covetous oologists (ourselves) had visited 

 eight known nesting sites of the Golden Eagle, had inspected 17 nests new 

 or old, and had taken only one set of Eagle eggs. Query: How long will 

 the Golden Eagle last at the present rate of decrease?" 



Taken in San Luis Obispo County Photo by the Author 



A BIRD OF THE YEAR A-WING 



T7 TO NOTE LIGHT PATCHES UNDER WING; AND BASAL PORTION OF TAIL WHITE 



