30
PHOTOGRAPHING GOLDEN EAGLES FROM EGG TO
PHOTOGRAPHING- eagles In r their na
tive haunt, collecting a series of
home li'fe pictures of these lords of
the- air from egg to full feathers this wao
a bird lover's dream for years a feat
hitherto unaccomplished by the most ad
venturous photographer, a study never
carried out by the most enthusiastic
ornithologist.
What do the pictures represent? Three
months of patient -waiting, varied by six
long mountain trips in Santa Clara Coun
ty, California, front civilization back to
the' aerie near the summit of a rock
strewn ridge; rides of 30 miles on the train,
from Oakland, and backachlng tramps of
ten miles up mountain trails -with a iieavy
camera equipment; the snapping of over
a hundred 5x7 plates exposed at every
available view of the stronghold from
terra firma to treetop.
Did the old eagles show fight? is the 1
first query put by the casual listener.
I always see a trace of disappointment
sweep his countenance when he hears the
answer. The moment you speak of climb
ing to an eagle's aerie, the average per
son eets an idea of a harrowing tale of
the photographer hanging to the ledge
of a cliff- or the top of a tree -with the
old eagles clawing out pound chunks at
every swoop. But few eagles possess the
mad fierceness pictured and magnified
by sensational storytellers.
When I first scrambled over the boul
ders o'f the canyon up toward the west,
I saw the old eagle slip quietly from her
eggs and ekim out over the mountain, top.
When I strapped on the climbers to as
cend the aerie, I had one eye open for
trouble. In fact, I carried a little gun in
my hack pocket, and it was loaded. But
in the six trips I made I always saw the
parents silently disappear and stay away
aslong as we cared to hold possession.
They kept a watchful eye, however, from
the dim blue distance overhead.
For a noble bird like the eagle, this
abandoning the nest seemed to me cow
ardly at first. Why didn't she stay and
Bhaw fight? Had I been an animal with
out a. gun Bho might have protected her
young. Perhaps the long years of perse
cution have taught her something. Life
to her was not the mad struggle against
a stronger foe. Her first rule of self-
preservation was to keep half a mile dis
tant from the animal "with the far-reaching,
death-deailwr -weapons.
Two-Species of Pacific Coast Eagles.
There are two eagles that inhabit North
America, and both are found on the Pa
cific Slope. The -white-headed or bald
eagle is found in the northern section.
while the golden eagle lives in the south
ern and eastern portions of Oregon and
California. Both birds are about three
feet in height, and have a wing spread
of six or seven feet.
The "nesting places of the eagles are
generally In some large tree high up on
the slope, where they can command a
wide outlook. In mountainous regions
-where good cliffs are available they "will
sometimes select a protruding shelf of
rock. I have never heard of an authentic
case of an eagle fighting for its nest
where the aerie has been placed in a tree.
but occasionally cases, are reported where
these birds have fbught fiercely "when a
nest placed on a cliff is disturbed ' and
where the eagles have a clear chance of
Bwooplng.
The First Trip.
The 25 th of last March -we boarded
the south-bound trln. and landed in a
fertile hilly district. With' our cam
eras strapped to our backs we scudded
along' on wheels the first few miles of
rolling" country, but we piled our vehi
cles in the brush about sun-up. The
Spring rains had not yet ceased. The
season was at its height. The grass
covered fields "were soft and springy
under foot- The delicate earthy odor
breathed gently up and the nostrils
failed not to take eager note of It. The
air seemed fluent as mercury, and vi
brated at every sound or motion. Down
every little gully the water gushed wlt
a low sucking lash. A band of red
wing blackbirds held a lyrical carnival
just down the hill, where the lush
grasses thrived. A flock of plppits
flushed, lilting te-chur! te-chur! up
the hillside. Meadow larks piped, hum
mers flashed about the new-born flow
ers, and bluejays squawked in defiance.
As we ascended out of the pasture land
and crossed into the canyon, we found
few trees except the snaggly live-oak
BY
and the smooth sycamore, just leafing
out along the canyon bed.
Two miles up, the mountain top
breaks abruptly off Into the head of the
canyon. Here a large sycamore is root
ed in the bed of the lit'le streamlet.
From the giant roots four good-sized.
trees spread. On the branch bending
out valleyward above the teep rocky
slope the eagles had carried a small
cartload of limbs and sticks and worked
them into the forks, where they
branched horizontal to the ground.
This was indeed a fitting castle for the
ruler of the ridge, for from the outlook
he surveyed the whole valley below,
and there was not a path of approach
that his sharp eyes did not command.
Climbing one. of the other forks of
the tree the photographer put up a
tiny platform in the topmost branches,
where the camera was fastened and
aimed downward at the aerie 20 feet
away. From this point of view the 1
pictures of the first two trips were
taken, showing the two eggs and the
downy young Just after hatching.
When the eaglets were older, the pho
tographers climbed the nest tree with
their cameras and took views from
nearer points of interest. To be sure,
the fledgllng3 resented my company
when I climbed Into the nest, which
was five feet across, and planted my
camera right beside them. But at that
time they were not strong enough to
offer effective resistance; they could not
help being Imposed upon. But they en
dured silently, laying up wrath for their
days of strength, when they could
strike a blow that brought blood.
Scientific Value of Pictures.
Such a series of pictures has the sci
entific value of showing the eagles in
their various stages of development. It
gives the'exact data of just how long it
takes an eagle to rear its brood, from
the time the egg is laid till the birds
leave the nest.
Later in th'e season I made a careful
study of the nesting habits of one of
the finches to serve as a comparison
between the small seed- and insect
eating birds and the largest birds of
prey. The -dates will give the reader
an Idea of what a difference there is in
the growth and development of birds.
I found the finch building its nest last
June-attd watched It closely. The home
was lined and completed the 24th of the
months It contained three eggs the 27th.
July 6 the eggs hatched, and the young
were able to leave the nest on July 16.
In other words, it took 19 days for the
finches to hatch the eggs and rear the
family, or about four weeks to build a
nest and send forth a new nestful of
birds Into the world.
How about the eagle? The same aerie
Is used year after year, the fiercest storms
of Winter do not affect it, but. each sea
son a new llrilng Is added. Two dull white
eggs are laid, generally marked with
brown blotches. These were laid the first
or second week In March, Just as the syca
more was beginning to leave out. The
period of Incubation lasted aimcst a
month, for the eggs were not hatched till
the first week In April. The eaglets were
covered with soft white down soon after
hatching. White Is not the color for a
hunter, but these showy garments lasted
for a full month, during which the young
sters grew from the egg to the size and
weight of a large-sized hen. The first
week in May black pin feathers began to
push up through the down, first appearing
on the wings and back. Week after week
the stiff black feathers grew, but they
THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN, PORTL'AND, rATJG;UST 21, 1904.
WILLIAM L. FINLEY, OF PORTLAND, WITH PHOTOGRAPHS
0
Fhotosrapnlnff
Eos lets in tno
Is
the Aerie.
Down, .
8. Sprouting Pln-feathera, two weeks later,
4. Two months old, almost in Foataea.
BY HERMAN T. BOHLMAN
. A- , x
FULL FEAT
jsm- -
came slo.wly, covering the back, wings,
head and" neck, until by the first week
In" June? they were well clothed In a fine
bristling suit of dark brown and black,
except a small white "shirt front." but
even then the birds were young and weak
and It required almost another whole
month for the feet and feathers to grow
strong enough so the bird could handle
Its heavy body. So where the finch re
quired only four weeks to rear a family,
It took the eagle a good four months, or
a third of the year.
Savage Spirit.
The eaglets revolted at human Interfer
ence. They opened their mouths In de
fiance when I first looked over the nest
edge. Nor were they one whit less fer
ocious from all my visits. They would
eagerly have rended the hand to shreds
that dared. touch them. Yet I could easily
have taken the nestlings Into captivity.
But one look Into those deep-set, black
eyes showed a nature primordial In Its
wlldness. Those eyes had a piercing glare,
that seemed always peering longingly Into
the far away blue of the distance. Theirs
was a savage spirit, that could no more
be curbed by human hand than could
the structure of the bill and foot be
changed. The elemental wlldness was
pent up In the egg that came from the
mother's body. It was the real king of
all birds that left the aerie never again
to be touched alive by the hand of man.
WILLIAM L. FINLEY.
More Afriimals Being Exterminated.
Another wild animal has been almost
exterminated by fur hunters. It is
the beautiful Satan ape of New
Guinea, which once was so plentiful
In the forests there that travellers told
how almost every tree bore its load of
handsome monkeys.
The. baauty. Ci tbe, Satan ana -TEas.iia
dcom. It3 wonderful shining fur, com
posed of immensely long silken hair, bo
came popular for furs about 12 years ago,
and at once fur hunters penetrated the
wild home df the monkeys to supply the
markets of Europe.
In 1S92 the Government figures showed
that 175,000 skins had been shipped In that
one year. Within two years so many
monkeys had been killed that only 67.600
eklns were exported In 1896. In many
places the forests are absolutely lifeless
now, and It Is calculated that there will
be no Satan apes left at all In a few
years.
The whlto heron, although It still exists
In great numbers in certain parts of South
America Is doomed, like the monkey, for
$100,000 worth of skins are exported an
nually from Argentina alone, while Ven
ezuela sends out about $50,000 each year.
It has been estimated that In the worst
years of plume-huntlng in Florida the
annual slaughter of these grand birds
amounted to one and one-half millions In
a year.
The beautiful humming bird 13 another
victim of tne feather hunter, and It Is
only a question of time before this tiny
creature will cease to dazzle the traveller
oven in the deepest forest, for there is
no place where it can escape the hunter.
In London alone the weekly sales of the
ruby and emerald skins" of the wonderful
bird amount to $50,000.
J .
High Places Affect Watches.
It has been found that watches and
clocks cannot withstand the effect of
great heights with perfect Immunity any
more than human beings can. Like them,
they suffer from the change in the air
pressure. A watch taken to the top of
Mont Blanc will gain 26 seconds in 24
hours. The thinness of the air, with. Its
decreased pressure, makes the poor watch
dizzy and leads It to run faster, just as
a man's blood runs faster. Watches will
change a little even when carried from
the lower floors of a house to the higher
ones, although the variation Is too slight
a bs.congjdixed;. Xor practical purposes,
f