378 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



upon him angrily, doubtless mistaking him for a coon or wild- 

 cat, and not until beaten off with his hat did she discover the 

 mistake and take flight. 



The only Eagle breeding in Santa Clara and San Benito 

 Counties, so far as observed by me, is the Golden Eagle (Aqaila 

 chrysaetus). The Bald Eagle (Haliaetus leucocephalus) nests, I 

 am told, in Monterey County, also in Alameda County. The 

 Golden Eagle usually chooses an open tree for its nest. The 

 sitting bird is said to leave the eggs uncovered for several hours 

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

 with its mate. I have never investigated this fact, although 

 once, on a warm day, I saw an Eagle fly to its nest about three 

 o'clock. They become attached to their old homes, and, if not 

 disturbed, refit them for occupancy every year, increasing their 

 bulk sometimes to immense proportions. When robbed they 

 still cling to the locality, commonly building a new nest within 

 three hundred yards of the old one, although frequently they 

 return again trustingly to their old home. If robbed again at a 

 new location they are pretty certain to go back to the old nest 

 the following year ; but when there are two nests in the same 

 tree, as frequently happens, the persecuted Eagles only remove 

 to their first nest, fancying that on another limb they will be 

 safe from disturbance. 



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 favourite play-ground. On 

 my visit the year following he was still doing " look-out 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," 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 it built I was surprised 

 and interested to observe a grain-sack. The set of two eggs 



