the
following account of the method as he has practised it. The pit is dug, six
feet long, three wide, and four deep, on top of the highest knoll that can
be found near a stream. The earth taken out is carried a long way off. Over
the pit they put two long poles, one on each side, running lengthwise of
the pit, and other smaller sticks are laid across, resting on the
poles. The smaller sticks are covered with juniper twigs and long grass. The
skin of a wolf, coyote, or fox, is stuffed with grass, and made to look as
natural as possible. A hole is cut in the wolf skin and a rope is passed
through it, one end being tied to a large piece of meat which lies by the
skin, and the other passing through the roof down into the pit. The bait is
now covered with grass, and the man returns to his lodge for the night.

During the night, he sings his eagle songs and burns sweet grass for the
eagles, rubbing the smoke over his own body to purify himself, so that on
the morrow he will give out no scent. Before day he leaves his lodge
without eating or drinking, goes to the pit and lies down in it. He
uncovers the bait, arranges the roof, and sits there all day holding the
rope. Crows and other birds alight by the bait and peck at it, but he pays
no attention to them.

The eagle, sailing about high in air, sees the bait, and settles down
slowly. It takes it a long time to make up its mind to come to the bait. In
the pit, the man can hear the sound of the eagle coming. When the bird
settles on the ground, it does not alight on the bait, but at one side of
it, striking the ground with a thud--heavily. The man never mistakes
anything else for that sound. The eagle walks toward the bait, and all the
other birds fly away. It walks on to the roof; and, through the crevices
that have been left between the sticks, the man can see in which direction
the bird's head is. He carefully pushes the stick aside and, reaching out,
grasps the eagle by the two feet. The bird does not struggle much. It is
drawn down into the pit, and the man wrings its neck. Then the opening is
closed, and the roof arranged as before. So the man waits and catches the
eagles that come through the day. Sometimes he sits all day and gets
nothing; again he may get eight or ten in a day.

When darkness comes, the man leaves his hiding-place, takes his eagles, and
goes home. He carries the birds to a special lodge, prepared outside of the
camp, which is called the eagles' lodge