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Volume VIII 
J anuary-F ebruary 1906 
Number 1 
The Golden Eagle 
BY WILLIAM L. FINLEY 
WITH PHOTOGRAPHS BY HERMAN T. BOHLMAN 
T HE Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos ) was formerly found east of the Missis- 
sippi, as well as west, but it does not now frequent the more settled portions 
of the country. An isolated pair may still live in the wildest regions of 
New England or northern New York, or a few may still have their homes in the 
mountains of the two Virginias, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia or the Carolinas. 
The bird is not now common anywhere, but is yet found in small numbers in the 
mountainous regions of the West, especially in portions of California. In the 
Rocky Mountains the golden eagle often builds its nest on inaccessible cliffs, but in 
California and Oregon its favorite nesting sites are the pines, oaks and sycamores 
of the deep canyons or rugged slopes. 
We hunted for several years for the aerie of a golden eagle before we found 
one in a position where we could use our cameras to get a good series of photo- 
graphs. With the help of Mr. Charles R. Keyes we were finally successful in our 
search. On the morning of March 25, 1904, we boarded a south-bound train from 
San Francisco and landed in a fertile, billy district. With our cameras strapped 
to our backs, we wheeled rapidly over the first few miles of road, but we soon had 
to pile our bicycles in the brush and push on a-foot. As we ascended out of the 
cultivated district the road came to an end and we had to follow cow trails. Further 
up we reached the highest shoulder of the range and found the surface rocky and 
broken. There was scarcely any vegetation on the ridge beside a straggly growth 
of poison oak and chaparral. We stood and gazed at the wide stretch of valley. 
Far below, and reaching inland from the lower end of San Francisco bay, the rib- 
