EAGLES 
227 
that although in rocky districts the nests are situated on ledges of cliffs or precipices, 
yet they are by no means always in inaccessible places. As the nest is repaired 
year after year, it eventually attains an enormous size if its owners are undisturbed. 
A correspondent writing to Captain Bendire from Colorado states that he has seen 
a nest over seven feet in height, and with a diameter of fully six feet, which he 
estimated to contain two cart-loads of material. In that state the old nests are 
repaired as early as February; a bough of evergreen being invariably laid on each, 
as if to mark its being occupied. In California the nests are always in trees; and, 
although generally lined with vegetable substances, an instance has been observed 
where the lining was of feathers, evidently from the breast of one of the parents. 
One case is on record where a golden eagle built in Scotland in a tree. During 
the breeding-season each pair of golden eagles usually has a definite region over 
which they hunt, and into which no others intrude. In Oregon the nests are 
stated to be at distances of as much as twenty miles apart, although in California 
from two to six miles is given as the width of the range of a pair of these 
birds. The eggs are usually two in number, but may be three, while four 
have been occasionally taken. Although fairly constant in size, they are subject 
to extreme variation in colour; some being pure white, while others are more 
or less blotched with shades of red or purplish brown. In Scotland the eggs are 
commonly hatched in the latter part of April; the newly-born nestlings being 
clothed in pure white down, which, however, is soon replaced by the dark first 
plumage. 
With regard to its courage, Captain Bendire writes that “ notwithstanding the 
many sensational stories of the fierceness and prowess of the golden eagle, especi¬ 
ally in the defence of its eyrie, from my own observations I must confess that, if 
not an arrant coward, it certainly is the most indifferent bird in respect to the care 
of its eggs and young I have ever seen. This may possibly be due more to utter 
parental indifference than to actual cowardice, as three of these birds, an adult 
male caught in a trap, and a pair of young—male and female—taken from the nest 
when three years old and raised by me, did not seem to be deficient in spirit by 
any means, and were always ready to attack anything and everything on the 
slightest provocation.” In captivity the golden eagle is far more tractable than 
the sea-eagles; and in Central Asia, where it is known as the birkut, or karakush, 
it is trained to kill mammals and large birds. Dr. Scully writes that the trained 
bird “ is always kept hooded when it is indoors, except when about to be fed, and 
the method of carrying it in the chase is the following. The man who is to carry 
the eagle is mounted on a pony and has his right hand and wrist protected by a 
thick gauntlet. A crutch, consisting of a straight piece of stick carrying a curved 
cross-piece of horn or wood—the concavity being directed upwards—is attached to 
the front of the saddle; the man grasps the cross-piece of the crutch with his 
gloved hand, and the eagle then perches on his wrist.” 
Although frequently mistaken in the later stages of its immature 
Imperial Ea,£rle ^ • • • • $ 
' plumage for the preceding species, the imperial eagle (Aquila heliaca) 
is really very distinct, and may be easily recognised in the adult state by the more 
or less conspicuous white patch on the scapulars. In size it is smaller than the 
golden eagle, with less difference between the two sexes; the length of the female 
