<P> This legend was originally published in the March 27, 1959, edition of the Auburn Plainsman and was conceived by then editorial page editor Jim Phillips . Though apocryphal, this tale is most often told as the beginning of the association of "War Eagle" with Auburn . Phillips has pressed several recent presidents of Auburn to research the true origin of the battle cry "before my fictitious story gets carved in stone ." </P> <P> Auburn's first real, live - eagle mascot, War Eagle II, was mentioned in the New York Times, which noted then that "War Eagle" was already established as Auburn's battle cry . In November 1930 a golden eagle swooped down on a flock of turkeys in Bee Hive, Alabama, southwest of Auburn, Alabama, and became entangled in a mass of pea vines . Fourteen individuals and businesses scraped together $10 and purchased the eagle from the farmer who owned the pea patch . Cheerleaders DeWit Stier and Harry "Happy" Davis (who later became executive secretary of the Alumni Association) helped care for the new bird . It was put in a strong wire cage and taken to the Auburn football game against the University of South Carolina in Columbus, Georgia on Thanksgiving Day . </P> <P> Auburn, having not won a Southern Conference game in four seasons, was anticipated to lose . However, Auburn took a 25 - 7 victory over the Gamecocks . The student body concluded that the luck from the eagle's presence--which had been absent from their prior losses--was responsible for the victory that day . The eagle was kept in a cage behind Alumni Hall (renamed Ingram Hall), and cared for by members of the "A" Club . </P> <P> The bird's ultimate fate is unknown . Some say it died or was carried away by students of a rival school . Others say it was given to a zoo due to the high cost of upkeep; there is even a rumor that it was stuffed and put in the John Bell Lovelace Athletic Museum . </P>

When does the eagle fly before auburn games