3/ 
♦ 
I failed, to see it at first, owing, I think, to the 
fact that I was not looking for anything nearly so large. 
As it sat facing us, it looked literally as big as a boy 
of five or six years of age. Its position was very erect, 
its pose impressively dignified and commanding. "What a 
noble creature!" I said to myself, as I put my glass on 
it. It appeared to be mottled all over with white on a 
nearly black ground. Holden asked in a whisper,"What is 
it?". I replied,"I do not know; I have never seen any¬ 
thing like it before". All the while we were standing 
about fifty yards off. 
I now advanced, covering the bird partially by the 
stems of some birches. It must have seen me, but it did 
not move in the least. When I was within about twanty-five 
yards, I felt sure of it and, taking careful aim at its 
head, gave it a charge of No. 4 shot. As it fell over 
backwards, it threw up its legs and, thinking that I saw 
feathered tarsi, I shouted with exultation, "It is a Golden 
Eagle!" When I reached it, however, I found that it was 
only an immature Bald Eagle with an unusual amount of white 
on the back and breast. It showed no signs of having ever 
been confined. What made it look fco very large is difficult 
to understand, for it measured only 7 feet 5 inches from 
tip to tip. 
Almost the strangest part of the story remains to 
be told. On the crest of the ridge a little above where 
Holden had first seen the bird flying, we found its tracks 
If 
