Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1897-06-03
CAPTURING AN EAGLE
A~~Xoung. Bird Caught for q Pet
Southern Arizona.

Beard writes Of 'Moses:s X Tame Ea-
gle,' one of his pets while he was en-
gagged in engineering in southern Arr.
iona. Mr.. Beard gives. the following
account Of its capture:
l saw on the rounded top of one d
the giant cacti with which these Aes-
erts are thickly studded an eagle tho
like Of which, though Familiar With the
fowls Of that region, had never before
seen; and l may here add that we new.
er did With any certainty, discover tho
species to which she belonged. I rode
near to get ID better View, btit ssh4a de-
sired no closer kquaiptain,eafar after.
unfolding her wings once or twice ip, ?:
hesitatlng sort Of manner as 4 ap
proached. she finally sstreAd them and
flevs heayilyssws1, sa'muple epf rbstoi
shots from t4e<vago9 PEinsIonly thu
effect Of INCREASING her speed, The cac-
,tusSoF Which she had been resting was
a very fair ssfnple IT the largest sals-
ETY. in the woEld Of that, interesting
plant OF the thickness Of T. man'S
body 1t rose straight from the ground,
bs4utifal sflutea teohlmns OF vivid aps
ple5green, taf4 height Of twenty-five
feet, where cluster Of branches near
ly dis thick az Tie sparents stem grew
out from it and tprneAI upward, whilE'
the main tyYnk, WITHOUT, . bend, rose
several feet higher. ~ -
Betwesn ttaWIoJ Il these branches and
the trunk there was built a nest of
good-sized sticks, about twice as large
s. as q bushel basket; and on this my eyes
happened to be resting when the noise
e6f' the shots brought yfbove its edge a
little head covered with graNsh- yellow
fuks, out Of whichpeered two big round
eyes with an air Of anxious: inquiry.
In that sdesert country, afaf from rail.
ways and towns, we led rather dull
lives; SO the several pets we possessed
in the big permanent camp miles away
served in no small measure to amuse
us; and to these we wished to add Our
young friend of the cactus. But how
to get him down was problem.
Somebody suggested that volun-
teer climb the cactus. but no one thrust
himself forward to do SO. The Spanish
nsahl WI k1t - kndwn y sujuarro,
which, put into English, means F"that
which scratches" and as the spines
which thickly cover the outer edges Of
the ridges are from one to four inches
long, and as sharp as needles, it will
be seen that the name gives good idea
Of that plant. 4 { r. IS -
We did not like TO cut 1T down for
fear the fall might injure the fledgling;
but after some debate no better method
presented itself, so the town axmen set
to work. AS the first blows, made the
green shaft tremble, the head appeared
once more. trying, with an expression
Of concern, to see, what was going on
below; but this the thick sides Of the
nest prevented. Then It SlOoked at me
and said, "Jark" This was the frst
remark Moses ever made to us, and
there was no time for more then; fOl
the axes had eaten through the pulpy
mass, which now began to bend to ita
AS the nest tilted we could see the
thick body belonging to the head, Will
two big claws clutching wildly, while
the weak, featherless wings tapped
madly in an instructive effort to support
their owner. q sss aHt
The caAus came down with.a crash.
and runnlpg up we'looked for our bird;
but only little gray down was visible,
with one leg helplessly extended from
under a big branch which, broken by
the shock. had fallen across and almost
hid him. We feared he was killed; but
when, by means Of an ax-head hooked
' agoAndv tie pIickly Etve, M was pulled
lid Ne gStllersd 4i1lhselfS together,
quite unhurt, and then, surveying the
strange beings who surrounded him,
made up his mind to them with that
philosophy we later learned to be one
Of his traits, and opening his great
mouth to its fullest extent, limited that
he, was hungry and wanred something
WV - 80, : 49, i
y" He Wanted Little.
,RepresentAtive Nllis of Oregon, had