152 
ZOOLOGY. 
This eagle is a constant resident, and, I believe, lays its eggs as early as February, though I 
never examined a nest at that season. I never saw it dive for fish or pursue unwounded birds, 
but have seen it settle for a moment on the water to secure a dead fish, closing its wings. 
It is a great pest to the sportsman, being always on the lookout for wounded birds, which it 
seizes almost from his grasp. It will sometimes sit for hours on the beach among gulls, crows, 
and ravens, which are quite unconcerned at its presence. 
The young of this species seems to prefer the sea-coast, and is generally supposed to be 
another species by the name of “gray eagle.” It seems to differ in the greater breadth of the 
wings and tail, which, however, depends on the form of the feathers only. The coloring is 
very variable, not only the head and tail, but the back and breast being mottled, and sometimes 
entirely white. These varieties might easily be mistaken for species before the regular change 
of plumage was fully demonstrated. During the journey northward to the 49th degree I saw 
numbers of eagles along the Columbia, commonly sitting on some log or cliff over the water. 
In Santa Clara county, California, I saw a nest of this bird large enough to fill a wagon. It 
was built in a large sycamore tree, standing alone in the prairie, and but a short distance from 
several farm houses. On my shooting a magpie from the tree, one of the eagles came from a 
distance and flew round to reconnoitre, though, as it was November, they probably had no 
eggs or young in it. The farmers not having molested it, I suppose the eagles were not trouble¬ 
some, and probably found enough to eat among the great numbers of cattle dying on those 
plains. 
I have never seen this eagle about the high mountain tops, and on the plains east of the 
Rocky mountains it is a rare visitor.—0. 
This noble looking bird is exceedingly abundant in Oregon and Washington Territories, and 
in certain localities, especially during the salmon season, may be found in great numbers. De 
Smet, in his work on “Oregon Missions,” speaks of their abundance about the shores of several 
of the large lakes on the upper Columbia, where they find, during certain months of the year, 
an easy subsistence, owing to the vast numbers of dead and dying salmon which line the water 
margin. While crossing the continent with Governor Stevens’s party in 1853 I succeeded in 
obtaining a pair of young birds alive, from an eyrie built in a tree on the borders of Lake Jessie, 
Minnesota. They were forwarded to the Smithsonian Institution, and deposited in the collec¬ 
tion of living creatures kept for the amusement of the patients at the lunatic asylum near 
Washington city. On my canoe voyage from the Rocky mountains to Fort Vancouver I fre¬ 
quently passed these birds, at times sitting alone, or in pairs, in the trees over the river banks, 
or perched on the high cliffs overhanging the wild streams of the mountains. They appeared 
quite tame, and frequently permitted an approach within easy rifle shot. Sometimes one or 
two might be seen in company with a few little impudent looking crows, dividing the remains 
of a dead and putrid salmon which had been washed up on the shores of the Columbia. These 
dead salmon appear to afford the principal nourishment to the eagles, crows, and coyotes of that 
region. 
Mr. Geo. Gibbs says that he has seen the present bird alight in deep water, and rest upon 
it like a gull. 
The measurements of the Oregon specimens seem to be greater than those of the Atlantic. 
I think that this bird, in Oregon, does not depend much on the prey captured from the osprey, 
as the latter bird is not at all abundant there, but rather, as above stated, on the dead bodies 
of fish which are cast up on the shores of the coast, bays, and rivers, becoming thus vulture- 
