Nest of the Golden Eagle. 
[Aquila clirysoctus canadensis.] 
By SAMUEL C. EVANS. 
In Santa Clara County, in the region of Mt. 
Hamilton, stands a high and bulky mountain, 
j called Mt. Day. On March 19, 1887, I sought 
I the vicinity of Mt. Day in order to procure the 
eggs of the Golden Eagle. 
In these mountains the Golden Eagle, is not 
scarce, neither is it plentiful. I found on the 
above-mentioned day three Eagle’s nests, all of 
which were inhabited by the birds. Of these 
nests, two were first found on March 12, but I 
will speak of them hereafter. This region of 
country is wild and rugged, clothed with live 
oaks, white oaks, pines and other trees. The 
mountains are very steep, and in some places 
can only be ascended by holding on to poison 
oak bushes and cutting footholds at nearly 
every step. The ground is. very loose in many 
places and hard to get a footing on. 
Nest No. 1 was a new nest, placed in a large 
pine tree, which overhung a deep and rocky 
canon. It was dangerous to climb this tree, so 
I left it, although I saw the Eagle leave the 
nest. This nest was first noticed on March 12, 
1887. 
Nest No. 2 was a bulky structure, composed 
of large dry sticks of the forest, of oaks, syca- 
mores, etc. It was in a large live oak, about 
seventy feet from the ground, and contained 
three eggs. Two of the eggs were spotted 
with red-brown blotches, while the other was a 
dirty white color without spots. The eggs 
were badly incubated. 
Nest No. 3 was in a live oak, about thirty feet 
from ground. The nest was as large as any 1 
saw (for I found several deserted nests the 
week before), composed of dry sticks and 
lined with straw. This nest was first found on 
March 12, 1887, and had one egg. On March 
19, it still had only one egg, so I concluded it 
was all the bird was going to lay. I think this 
nest must have been three feet thick, and it was 
certainly large enough for a man to get into. 
While at the nest, 1 rested my whole weight 
[{ (140 pounds), on it, having no other support. 
The Eagle was very tame, and did not fly till I 
was within ten feet of the nest. This Eagle 
builds in these mountains, and in the same nest 
year after year. Their nests seem to be equally 
distributed in sycamores, pines, and oaks. The 
structure in all the nests I saw, live in all, was 
bulky and very strongly placed in the branches. 
I never heard this Eagle make a noise on being 
disturbed, and only in one case did the bird re- 
turn to the nest while I was at the tree. 
Q.& O. XIII. June. 1888 p, ?/ 
LOGIST. 
m . a 
/ 3 /. 
131 
Golden Eagles Eggs. — While in camp 
at Fort Bridger, Wyoming Territory, in 
1871, one of our party brought in from 
the mountain in his saddle bag an egg of 
the Golden Eagle. He found the nest on 
a ledge of rock on the side of a moun- 
tain. It was composed of a mass of sticks, 
in the center of which was a young eaglet 
neatly neady to fly, and this egg which he 
brought to me showed no signs of being 
incubated, and I was only sorry the other 
egg had hatched out, for I wanted a full 
set. The old bird showed no alarm, but 
flew about over head just out of gunshot 
however. The egg is globular in shape, 
being nearly as large one way as the other. 
Ground color of a dirty white, covered 
with blotches of what I supposed was dirt, 
but on my rubbing it with soap and water 
and a brush, it refused to come off. Ming- 
led with these stains as it were, are shell 
spots of lilac and purple. So the egg is 
much darker than any other eagle's egg I 
have seen. Shell smooth, but not polished. 
Size, 2.84x2.34. Collected June, 1871, at 
an elevation of over eight thousand feet, 
our camp being nearly that height, and the 
was taken at a much greater height. 
Other sets containing two eggs are in 
the collection of Geo. H. Ready, Santa 
Cruz, Cal., andJ. G. Cooper, of Haywards, 
Cal. Also, Capt. Chas. E. Bendire, Fort 
Walla Walla, W. T., and Edwin Dickinson, 
Springfield, Mass. 
Mr. Cooper also has an egg of the Cali- 
fornia Vulture in his collection, which is 
the only one I know off, though he may 
have added others since I heard from him. 
— Snowdon Howland , Newport , R. I. 
Collection of Rap tores Eggs. J.P.N. 
I <? olden Eagle, b ' 2, 7 la 
O.&O. XV. Apr. 1890. p. 56 
A Philadelphia Collection of Eggs of 
the RaptoreB. 
Aquila chrysaetus canadensis. Golden Eagle. 
Two sets of two. Total : two sets, four eggs. 
O.&O. XIV. Mar. 1889 p.48 
