Pinion and his feathered friends are the target of several hunters, especially one airplane pilot paid by sheepherders who mistakenly consider the golden eagle a menace to their flocks. Pinion learns to avoid planes on his annual Alaska-to-Texas route, even mates and raises a family (and loses a daughter to the hunter). Meanwhile back at the House, Congress passes a bill outlawing the shooting of golden eagles, which should solve Pinion's problem. But the hunter continues to stalk in the sky until a fellow-traveller, balking at the shooting of a Bald Eagle, reports the man to the authorities: Justice takes its course. The point of view, alternating between fiction and congressional record, is difficult to accept, and the argument, now legally settled, lacks immediate force.