HAWKS, EAGLES, KITES: GOLDEN EAGLE 
179 
Golden Eagles were seen by Major Goldman hunting prairie dogs 
on the San Augustine Plains. Several pairs were seen soaring at low 
elevations over the plain, and one was seen to swoop down close to a 
prairie-dog hole, though before reaching the ground it shot upward 
again. A forest ranger when about half a mile away saw an eagle dart 
down and on riding over to the place scared up the bird from a freshly 
killed prairie dog, its bones already nearly stripped of flesh (MS). 
Another eagle, seen by Mr. Ligon in the Black Range, was picking the 
bones of a calf that had been killed by wolves. In western Socorro 
Count}", where they were very abundant, March 22,1915, Mr. Ligon also 
found that they were feeding not only on jack rabbits and prairie dogs, 
but on the carcasses of stock killed by the wolves, wolves, eagles, and 
ravens being seen together. As he remarks—“No doubt the destruc¬ 
tion of the gray wolves will increase the usefulness of the eagles by 
forcing them to kill more of their meat, which will be rabbits” (MS). 
Eagles are caught by the Indians, who use the feathers in their 
religious ceremonies. Two were seen in 1916 by Mr. M. P. Skinner at 
Zuni, living in captivity. 
“At the San Jeronimo races of the Taos Indians in 1903, we found 
that eagle feathers were largely in evidence. Eagle down was thrown 
into the air when the racers first came up out of their khivas, and the 
hair and bodies of many of the runners were whitened with down. One 
or two had an eagle feather in the hair, and one at least had a feather 
on each ankle. Before starting on the relay race each runner took his 
position before one of the old men, who stroked his legs with an eagle 
quill to give him speed.” The feathers are also used for ceremonial 
head-dresses. To have them at hand, the eagles arc kept in cages. We 
saw them at Taos and they have been seen in several pueblos, among 
them, Sia and Jeinez. To supply them, the Pueblo Indians as well as 
the Navajos, Mr. Jensen tells us, “have their *eagle catchers’ men 
trained to capture the full grown birds.” In describing their methods, 
he says “My Indian friends tell me that no traps are used, as these 
would bruise the eagles’ legs. A hole about three feet square and fiom 
five to six feet deep is dug in the ground near a tree. The 1 catcher then 
places himself in the pit, which later is covered with limbs and turf, 
except for a small opening just large enough to slip the hand through. 
A dead rabbit is placed on top as bait, with a tame eagle as decoy. If 
a soaring eagle spies the tame eagle, it alights in the tree, and after 
examining the surroundings for some time, it darts for the rabbit. This 
is the concealed man’s opportunity. He reaches out and catches the 
eagle by the legs and pulls it down into the hole, which is too narrow for 
the eagle to fight in” (1923b, p. 456). It seems hard that such noble 
birds of the sky should be caged, but the numbers taken are small and 
the religious ceremonies vital to the Indians. 
