Golden Eagle s Nest and Eggs. — I wish 
to place on record the find of a splendid 
set of Aquila eggs, on the 18th of March. 
The nest was about seven miles from town 
in an unfrequented range of hills, with 
only a few live oaks bordering the gulches. 
In one of the largest of these this pair of 
birds had built for three or four years, I 
should judge from apjiearances. The nest 
was situated so as to command a view of 
all the valley before it and hid from behind 
by a dense mass of limbs and foliage. As 
soon as I got within a mile of the nest I 
saw the male leave the place and sail slowly 
out of sight ; and the female left by the 
time I was within 300 yards. On climbing 
to the nest I found the two eggs covered 
by a fresh twig of oak. Do you not think 
the old bird placed it there to conceal the 
eggs ? So I took it. The nest was a cum- 
bersome affair, and measured fifty inches 
across and eighteen inches in depth. The 
eggs were in a slight depression, which 
was lined with wild oat straw and the hairy 
tops of the Spanish “ soap-root,” and it was 
about forty feet from the ground. The 
eggs measure 2.97x2.25 and 2.87x2.25 
and had a white background ; one was 
thickly spotted on the larger end and the 
other the same on the small end. I regret 
that I was unable to get the old birds ; 
but contrary to the boasted courage of the 
Golden Eagle I never saw them after they 
left the place. It was the same when I 
procured the other eggs, three years ago. 
JTqI 
ay 
Nesting of the Golden Eagle. 
BY J. E. C., SAN BENITO CO., CALIFOBNIA. 
On February 15th, 1886, I went to an old nest 
of the Golden Eagle, ( Aquila chrysaelus cana- 
densiis), and found that the birds had begun to fit 
it up with new material. On February 26th I 
made another trip to the nest, and found two eggs. 
The nest was in a solitary live oak tree, sur- 
rounded by wheat fields; and the tree had only 
been left standing because it grew on the side of a 
gulch. The birds had built on the south side of 
the tree, and the nest was composed of large 
sticks, one of which measured seven inches in cir- 
cumference. It was lined inside with straw stub- 
ble, green grass, and green twigs of trees with the 
leaves attached. It was six feet deep and five 
feet broad, and was built up nearly four feet from 
the bottom. It was just thirty-one feet from the 
ground, as I ascertained by means of a string. 
Both the eggs were perfectly fresh, and after 
preparing them I cooked the contents of one of 
them, as I wished to ascertain how Eagle’s eggs 
tasted. I found it rather rank, however, and 
only fit for starvation diet. 
When I approached the nest I saw no bird, but 
while I was under the nest the Eagle flew up and 
lit on the nest over my head. I waited until she 
flew off again, which she did (with a scream) in 
thirty-four minutes, and I think she deposited the 
second egg while I waited, for she did not see me, 
and I never saw her again after she left the nest. 
[The set of two eggs, above referred to, are at 
present in the cabinet of a gentleman in Phila- 
delphia, where they have been examined by the 
present writer. They are very handsomely 
marked specimens and quite spherical in form. 
No. 1 measures 2.86x2.21, and is of a whitish 
color, quite heavily marked all over the egg with 
spots and blotches of bright reddish brown. These 
become confluent near the smaller end, where they 
are very heavy, and form an indistinct circle. 
There is also a large blotch of reddish brown near 
the larger end, and the shell is quite rough. No. 
2 measures 2.89x2.29, thus being slightly larger 
than the other egg. The ground color is whitish, 
and is marked all over with small spots of bright 
reddish brown, which are thickest near the 
smaller end, but not confluent as in No. 1. The 
larger end is covered with light lilac markings, 
and the shell is rough, and slightly granulated. 
—Ed,] 
O.& O. XI. J an. 188 Q. p. *6~ 
