134 
FALCONIFORMES 
mammals, and their record is absolutely clear. One nest examined by the 
writer in the bad lands of Red Deer River contained the fresh remains of 
several gophers, and in a small hollow immediately under the nest was 
nearly a bushel of fragments of similar prey, dried bits of furry skin, tails, 
and feet, and such small discards from innumerable meals. The number 
was not counted, but must have represented several hundred animals, yet 
they were but the pieces that happened to fall just in this particular direc- 
tion from the nest. A conservative estimate of the requirements of a 
family of these large hawks is surprising in its total. Two adults, from 
spring arrival to the birth of young, three months, consume not less than a 
gopher a day, 90 in all. After the young are out, four in the brood, and for 
two months at least, the family requirement can not average less than three 
gophers a day, or 180. Thereafter for one month, the six practically adult 
birds, though four are still growing, probably will require one gopher each 
a day, or 180 more. A single gopher, in favourable circumstances, destroys 
at least one bushel of wheat. Supposing that one-tenth of this can be 
charged against the average gopher, we still have thirty-five bushels of 
wheat as the value of this one family of large hawks for a single season. 
This can be translated into dollars and cents by multiplying by the current 
price of wheat, and makes a sum that is well worth considering. 
With the reduction of coyotes, foxes, and other natural enemies of 
gophers on the prairies, these large buzzard hawks, the Red-tail, Swainson’s, 
and Rough-legs, should be encouraged in every way to take their places. 
Eagles 
The Eagles are our largest Birds of Prey. Size alone will differentiate 
them from the hawks. Any bird of prey over 30 inches long, or 6 feet in 
extent, is an eagle. They are typically large buzzards, and have a similar 
outline in flight, but with a longer though equally round-tipped wing, and 
the tail broad but not so long (Figure 174 — 2). A very distinctive character 
of the eagles in life is the shape of the head and bill. The bill is rarely 
as long as the head itself but shows a particularly massive and character- 
istic appearance that can be recognized as eagle-like at a considerable 
distance. We have only two species in Canada. 
349. Golden Eagle, l’aigle dore. Aquila chrysaelos. L, 30. A large, dark brown 
Eagle, the hindneck suffused with an ochraceous cast suggesting the name “Golden” 
(Figure 197), and the basal half of tail dark, with indistinct broken bars or speckles of 
greyish. Tarsus feathered to the base of toes. 
Distinctions. In all plumages very similar to the juvenile Bald Eagle, but quite different 
from the adult. The mature Golden is all 
black or very dark brown, with hindneck 
dull ochre. The end of the tail is dark, but 
beneath the coverts at the base it is 
Figure 196 
Feathered tarsus of Golden Eagle; 
scale, E 
Figure 197 
Golden Eagle; scale, 
