Nesting of the Golden Eagle. 
liY HARRY R. TAYLOR, ALAMEDA, CAL. 
Iii the latter part of February 1888, I repaired 
to Sargents Station, Santa Clara County, Cal. 
to spend some pleasant weeks of recreation. 
In a wild, hilly region where the live-oak grows 
abundantly and not a mile from San Benito 
county, was my headquarters, and with a good 
saddle-horse at my disposal and the Gabilan 
Mountains looming up in the distance I thought 
my chances for securing eagle’s eggs and other 
rarities were excellent. 
On February 2Sth I saddled my sure-footed 
black horse and galloped off over the hills in 
search of chicken-hawk’s” nests or any other 
kind which might be available. The special 
object of my ride, however, was to try and find 
the nest of a Golden Eagle ( Aquila chrysaetus 
canadensis) which I had observed last May in a 
certain locality in the hills. Two or three days 
before I had seen this noble bird on the bald 
top of a little mountain, or big hill, where it 
remained for over an hour walking about and 
occasionally disappearing behind the mountain's 
crest. 
On this hill-side, somewhat lower down, was 
a patch of live-oaks where I thought the eagle 
might have its nest. So toward this steep 
place I traveled, with as much haste as the 
nature of the country would permit. Without 
finding any hawk’s nests on the way, though 
once fooled into climbing after an old battered 
Magpie's nest, I and my steed reached the 
place of the oak trees. Contrary to my expec- 
tations I failed to find the nest here, and was 
about to mount my horse and climb to the top 
of the mountain for a view when I heard a 
sound of rushing air like the terrible approach 
of some death-dealing cyclone, and immediately 
the king of American birds, or it might have 
been the queen for aught I know, swooped 
down the mountain side in pursuit of some 
species of falcon. The big eagle and its smaller 
playmate sported in the air for a moment, not 
thirty feet over my head, and then went off in 
different directions. Unfortunately I watched 
the falcon instead of the eagle and before long 
I could not see either of them. 
Anyway I knew the direction the eagle had 
taken and I concluded to look carefully in all 
the trees down in the Canyon, but first gave 
myself the pleasure of a view from the summit 
of Bald Top. I hunted without success for the 
great bird’s eyrie in every large tree in the 
gulch below. Disappointed again, I still kept 
up the search. Much farther off I saw some 
trees which looked big enough to hold the nest 
and these I determined to examine. 
I had about looked into all the trees when I 
saw a big nest on a high limb of a large tree 
and my heart’s beating was almost audible so 
excited was I, and on the side of the nest was a 
white feather! That settled the question 
certainly, for me, and a sight of the head of a 
Golden Eagle peering enquiringly over the edge 
the next moment removed the last doubt I 
might have had. I then frightened the bird 
from the nest and it flew off a short distance, 
circled a little and was lost to sight over a hill. 
The tree, a live-oak was not a hard one to 
climb, under the circumstances, and 1 lost no 
time in getting to the nest. It contained but 
one egg, nearly pure white, so I scrambled 
down again, very much elated indeed after 
seeing my first eagle’s egg in a nest. Feeling 
by this time that the hour had arrived when 
nature's demands must receive attention I 
struck off for home and dinner, to return an- 
other day for the full set of eggs. On the way 
back I passed the eagle which was making a 
bee-line for the nest. 
On the first of March, three days later, I filled 
my fish-basket with cotton and started off after 
this set of eggs. As I neared the nest I observ- 
ed an eagle sailing majestically far above me, 
like some great air-ship bound for an unknown 
port. Coming up to the nest, it seemed unoc- 
cupied, so I began the ascent of the tree forth- 
with. When within six feet of the great mass 
of sticks I was surprised to see the eagle fly off. 
As I gazed into the nest my eyes were pleased 
by the sight of two splendid eggs and the last 
one the bird had laid seemed to me surpassingly 
beautiful. The first egg laid was almost pure 
white, or a bluish white, having a very small 
splash of brown on the large end. The other 
egg was not quite so long and heavily marked 
on a white ground with spots and blotches of 
rich reddish-brown and lilac. The marking be- 
comes confluent on the larger end where the 
brown seems to over-lie the lilac. The entire 
surface of the egg is marked, though much 
lighter toward the smaller end. The nest was 
built of oak-sticks and was large, measuring 
about five by four feet on the top. 
The nest proper, in the centre, was a nicely 
rounded hollow composed mostly of old grain 
stalks and oak leaves with a little moss. 
Stuccoed into one side were two large soap 
roots which the eagle perhaps thought orna- 
mental. On one side lay a half eaten squirrel. 
While lost in contemplation of the big nest and 
my rare prizes inside of it 1 had forgotten all 
about the owner, when I suddenly became 
aware of some presence near me, and looking 
ovei my shoulder I saw the eagle hovering not 
two feet away. I gave vent to a startled, 
terror-stricken “ hi ! hi !” and struck at it wildly 
with my hat, at which it flew off far over the 
hill, probably nearly as badly frightened as I 
departed with the set of eggs in my basket. 
The nest was about forty feet from the ground 
and on another limb, about twelve feet below, 
was another nest, evidently a very old one. 
Doubtless the tree has been used as a nesting 
place by eagles for half a century*, 
Q.&O. XIII, Nov. 1886 p.172-3 
