<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> <P> Originally known simply as "War Eagle" this bird was retroactively named "War Eagle II" with the arrival of War Eagle III . </P> <P> Auburn's third eagle arrived in Auburn in November 1960 after being captured by a cotton farmer in Curry Station, Talladega County, Alabama who found the bird caught between two rows of cotton . The eagle was sent to Auburn by the Talladega County Agent along with a load of turkeys . It was first taken to the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity house where it refused a cold chicken leg but made fast work of a live chicken . After a short stay in one of the Wildlife Department's animal pens, the eagle was moved into a cage built by the Auburn's Delta Chapter of Alpha Phi Omega fraternity . This would begin a 40 - year period where Alpha Phi Omega was the bird's primary caretaker . </P>

Where did the phrase war eagle come from