10 
THE CONDOR 
| Vor,. VIII 
the old birds consumed. But even this low estimate would mean the destruction 
of 540 squirrels along the hillsides in about three months’ time. What would be 
the total if we estimated the killing for the entire year? For this is the perman- 
ent home of the eagles. Then were we to consider all the other families of 
hawks and owls that nest along the hills and canyons we might get some idea of 
the economic importance to man of these birds of prey. 
After our fourth trip to the aerie of the eagle we again waited for fifteen days; 
the last trip was made on June 4. The hillsides had lost the color of green . 
The sun had baked the pasture-land into granite hardness. Every blade of 
grass was burned dry and crisp, making the steep slopes almost too slippery for 
foothold. The heat of the sun’s rays had erased every drop of water in the long 
series of side canyons through which we had to pass. With our heavy cameras 
on our backs, we struggled slowly up the rugged slopes, slipping and perspiring, 
our tongues parched with thirst. At dusk we ate our supper and gladly stretched 
under a tree for the night, a mile down the canyon from the eagles. 
When the first gray light of the morning crept down the western slope of the 
ridge, the king and his wide-winged mate soared out over the shadow of the sleep- 
ing world. The nestlings were almost fully grown. They stirred about and kept 
a hungry look-out from the nest edge, and from the great limb perch, for 
the parents. 
I cannot imagine a touch of humor in the life of the eagle. There was a pair 
of blue jays that nested near the eagles, and I imagine they came sneaking around 
at times when the parents were not at home, just to see what was going on. One 
day I was sitting on the edge of the nest with my feet dangling over, when one 
of the curious jays came up from behind. He didn’t notice me till he alighted, 
squawking, close by. His squawking-valve closed short off with a squeak of sur- 
prise; he threw up his wings in horror and dropped over backwards. The blue 
jay himself might have enjoyed the sight, had the joke not been on him. I en- 
joyed it hugely, but it was all Greek to the eagles. Everything to them is seri- 
ous. Life seems a cruel, harsh reality; it is blood from birth to death. 
The eaglets revolted at the sight of a human being. They opened their 
mouths in defiance when we first looked over the nest edge, nor were they one 
whit less ferocious for all our visits. They submitted to us as a caged lion en- 
dures his keeper. Each had a savage spirit that could no more be curbed by 
human hand than could the structure of the cered bill and the massive talons be 
changed. After almost three months of human interference, the royal pair of 
birds left their birthplace, never again to be touched alive by the hand of man. 
We made a careful study of the nesting habits of a lazuli bunting to serve as 
a comparison between the small seed-eating birds and the largest birds of prey. 
The dates give an idea of what a variation there is in the period of growth and 
development of birds. 
We found the bunting building its nest, and watched it closely. The home 
was lined, completed and contained three eggs on June 24th. On July 6tli the 
eggs hatched, and the young were able to leave the nest July 1 6th. In other 
words, it took four weeks for these birds to build a nest and start their brood of 
young into the world. 
How does the eagle compare with this finch ? The two eggs, shell-marked 
with brown, were laid the first week in March, just as the sycamore was begin- 
ning to bud. The period of incubation lasted almost a month, for the eggs were 
not hatched till about April 3. The eaglets were covered with white down for 
