136 



RECREATION, 



After studying this record of deviltry 

 where is the man or woman, even in senti- 

 mental Boston, who will shout vive la 

 sparroiv ! — Editor. 



THE SUMMER HOME OF THE GOLDEN EAGLE. 



E. I. HAINES. 



In a recent work on ornithology, by a 

 well known naturalist, I read with surprise 

 the following paragraph: — "Golden Eagle; 

 North America; of rare occurrence East 

 of the Mississippi valley; a common bird 

 of the Rocky mountains and ranges of the 

 Pacific coast." 



The same writer also says, "This majes- 

 tic bird has become entirely extirpated in 

 the more thickly settled parts of the East- 

 ern States, and occurs near New York 

 only as a rare straggler." 



Of course eagles are not so numerous in 

 North America as they formerly were. 

 Neither is one apt to find them flying 

 about our city streets, like the common 

 house sparrow: but when it comes to as- 

 serting that they have been entirely ex- 

 terminated East of the Mississippi, I pro- 

 test. 



It is not to be supposed that persons 

 wishing to become acquainted with the 

 golden eagle in its summer home would 

 search the city parks for it, unless they 

 were zoological gardens. Neither would 

 they find it in woods or fields near towns 

 or cities. Our bird of freedom has little 

 love for civilization, and is to be found, 

 therefore, as far away from it as possible. 

 Beetling crags of mighty mountains, steep, 

 rocky canyons and inaccessible cliffs, deep 

 in the heart of wild and wooded regions, 

 are chosen by this bird for its home. 



Dr. E. A. Mearns tells us the highlands 

 of the Hudson have been the home, for 

 many years, of several pairs of golden 

 eagles, who build their nests on the high, 

 rocky ledges along the river. A pair of 

 these birds have been seen as far South as 

 Highland Falls and Fishkill, only 50 miles 

 from New York city. There are numerous 

 records of golden eagles having been seen 

 in summer in the Berkshire hills of Mas- 

 sachusetts, but as that district is thickly 

 populated the golden eagle is more apt to 

 be an accidental visitant there than a reg- 

 ular summer resident. It is probably more 

 common in the Taconic range and Saddle- 

 back mountains in the Northern part of 

 the State. 



During the last 5 years I have been en- 

 gaged on ornithological work in the Cats- 

 kill mountains, where I first met and 

 studied the golden eagle in its true sum- 

 mer home. The bird is common in many 

 parts of the mountains, and is a familiar 

 species to almost every native of the re- 

 gion. In the open and cultivated districts 

 of Delaware county the golden eagle is 



somewhat rare, though the farmers of the 

 region report it as occurring quite fre- 

 quently. The keeper of Mt. Utsayantha 

 tower, Stamford, Delaware county, told me 

 he saw a pair of golden eagles several 

 times during July, 1899, and that on August 

 3rd he shot one which had come after his 

 chickens. A splendid male specimen was 

 caught in a steel trap at Harpersfield in 

 September, 1899, and was kept several 

 weeks in captivity in that town. Mr. A. 

 M. Warner, of Stamford, shot a golden 

 eagle on Mt. Utsayantha in August, 1895, 

 and has it mounted in his home. 



In the wild and mountainous region of 

 Ulster county the eagle is a common sum- 

 mer resident of the higher peaks and rocky 

 slopes, while on the top of Slide mountain, 

 4.220 feet high, I saw one of these birds 

 on June 13th, 1898. While camping on the 

 rocky summit of Mt. Wittenberg I saw 

 several eagles. From good authori- 

 ty I also learned that a few built their 

 nests every year on the rocky and inacces- 

 sible ridges of Eagle mountain and the 

 Giant ledge. John Burroughs told me 

 the golden eagle was common in the 

 Catskills and was often seen in his native 

 town, Roxbury, Delaware county. 



The following records are a few of the 

 occurrences, during late years, of the 

 golden eagle in the Catskill mountains, as 

 secured from reliable sources: 



Ulster County: Valley of the Beaver- 

 kill, May 15th, 1897; Valley of Dry Brook, 

 June 1, 1897; Valley of the Neversink (W. 

 branch), June 10th, 1898; Wallkill valley, 

 April 30th, 1897; Valley of Big Indian, 



July 20th, 1898; Alder lake, August , 



1891; Pea pond, May 20th, 1892; Fur- 

 lough lake, June 17th, 1889; Tunis lake, 

 June 21st, 1898; Frost valley, June 15th, 

 1899; Burnham Hollow, September 8th, 



1899. 



Delaware County: Mt. Utsayantha, 

 July 15th, 1893; Harpersfield, July 19th, 

 1897; Davenport, August 20th, 1897; Odell 

 lake, Stamford. July 20th, 1898; Hobart, 

 September 12th, 1897; Almeda, August 

 29th, 1897. 



It is absurd for theoretical ornitholo- 

 gists to dispute such statements, or to 

 suggest that it was some other bird or the 

 bald-headed species that was observed. As 

 a rule, the cool, level-headed Yankee 

 farmers know what they are talking about, 

 and it borders on the ridiculous to say 

 they confounded the golden eagle with 

 some other species. The golden eagle is 

 too well known for anyone to mistake it. 

 It is quite likely that, though many people 

 are trying to exterminate him, with both 

 gun and pen, it will be many years before 

 they succeed, or before his name will be 

 added to the long list of extinct birds. 



