164 
FALCONS, HAWKS, EAGLES, ETC. 
feathered all around to the toes, outer and middle toes webbed at base; 
bill large, long; wings long, pointed; tail mod¬ 
erate, rounded, or graduated ; feathers of occiput 
and nape lanceolate. Sexes alike. Adults : whole 
bird dark brown, lanceolate feathers of hind 
neck and those on legs lighter brown; wing 
quills black; tail blackish, more or less clouded 
or irregularly banded with grayish. Young: like 
adult, but basal part of tail plain white, under 
parts white beneath the surface. Male: length 
80-35, extent about 6^ to 7 feet, wing 23.00-24.70, 
tail 14-15, bill 1.50-1.62. Female: length 35-40, 
extent about 7 to 7£ feet, wing 25-27, tail 15-16, 
bill 1.68-1.85. 
Distribution. — Northern portion of northern 
hemisphere, chiefly in mountainous regions; south 
in North America to central Mexico. Breeds 
throughout its range. 
Nest. — A platform of sticks lined with straw, 
grass, moss, leaves, fur, or feathers, placed in 
high trees or on a ledge of a cliff. Eggs: usually 2, white, irregularly 
marked, some almost immaculate, others thickly blotched with brown. 
Food. — Mainly mammals and birds, including squirrels, prairie dogs, 
spermophiles, rabbits, fawns, lambs, turkeys, grouse, and waterfowl. 
From Biological Survey, U. S. 
Dept, of Agriculture. 
Fig. 233. Golden Eagle. 
In liis mountain home the golden eagle scours the ridges and sides 
of precipices for grouse and marmots, and when these become scarce 
or too wary from long acquaintance with his raids, he descends like 
a meteor on half folded wings to the valley, where he beats the 
sagebrush for jack rabbits, sage grouse, or any game worthy of his 
royal quest. 
The eagles are often seen hunting in pairs, and doubtless find 
mutual advantage other than companionship in the method. In 
Salt Lake Valley, at the foot of the Wasatch Mountains, a pair 
were once found eating a full grown gray fox they had just killed, 
which it is doubtful if either could have caught or overpowered 
alone. Under stress of hunger or when game is scarce, the birds are 
said to take young lambs or kids, and even to eat animals found 
dead on the prairie, in this way getting the poison put out for 
coyotes. But only extreme necessity could make them stoop to 
such ignominious quarry, as nothing short of the extermination of 
the buffalo and other legitimate game could have brought the 
haughty chiefs adorned with their regal feathers to beg alms. 
The eagles sweep over the plains and valleys, but the mountains 
are their natural homes. On San Francisco Mountain in Arizona I 
found a pair coming every morning to drink and bathe in a pool of 
clear snow water above the timber at 11,000 feet. 
Vernon Bailey. 
