THE GOLDEN EAOLE. tiS 



Tlie ))cak is' large, powerful, and deeply curved ; the eyes are remarkalily bright and 

 piercing, and the toes are provided beneath ^Yitll several large callous tubercles, so as to 

 protect the talons, which are extremely acute and much elongated. Of these the inner 

 and posterior are by far the largest, and the latter sometimes attains an extent of three 

 or foui' inches, measured along its curve. In its attitudes the bird is generally consid- 

 ered, particularly majestic, its powerful grasp enabling it to perch itself in a bold upright 

 posture, with its wings closely pressed to its sides, its neck elevated to the plane of its 

 back, and its breast thrown boldly forwards. 



Ages ago, it was said by Homer : — 



" Endued with sharpest eye, 



The sacred eagle from his walks above 

 Looks down and sees the distant thicket move, 

 Then stoops, and seizing on the quivering hare, 

 Snatches his life." 



An anatomical examination has demonstrated the absolute perfection of this bird's visual 

 power. The orb of its eye is supported by fifteen bony plates, which are capable of a 

 slight motion on each other ; the crystaline lens is precisely adapted to its circumstances ; 

 while, Uke other birds, the eagle has the power of altermg the degree of the convexity 

 of the cornea. 



Each nest is occupied by a single couple and their mutual progeny. Except during 

 the time of incubation, the male and female constantly pursue their game m company, so 

 that they are almost always seen flying in pairs. From the clefts of the rocks or the 

 summits of lofty trees, they sweep the comitry round in search of the living animals on 

 which they prey. Theii- flight is at once swift and powerful. Mountmg to an exceed- 

 ingly high pitch, they descend upon their victim with overwhelming rapidity, and bear it 

 off in then- talons, if it be not too heavy, to their nest. In their attacks, they frequently 

 select such animals as are capable of making some resistance ; not, however, as has been 

 absurdly stated, from any principle of magnanimity, but solely because their love of 

 rapine impels them to grasp at the larger in preference to the smaller prey. Their food 

 consists chiefly of foxes, lambs, fawns, and birds of various kinds. The destruction which 

 a pair of eagles occasions among the game of the surrounding district for many a league, 

 is almost incredible. Bechstein says, that in one eyrie, in Germany, were foimd the 

 skeletons of three hundred ducks and forty hares ; and it is probable that these were 

 only the remains of such as the eagles could take to theu" nest ; the rehcs of the larger 

 game being left after the feast on the spot where the animals were slaughtered. It has 

 been said that these birds sometimes carry off infants ; and Anderson asserts that in Ice- 

 land they have been known even to seize upon children of four or five years old. We 

 hesitate, however, to adopt such statements. There is reason to suspect in such histances 

 great exaggeration, and often absolute invention. 



While the plumage of the golden eagle is immature, and in this stage it continues to 

 the end of the tliird year, the basal portion of the tail, for more than half its length, is 

 of a pure wliite ; whence the older writers on Ornithology supposed it to be a distinct 

 species, and described it as such under the name of the ring-tailed eagle, a mistake cor- 

 rected by subsequent and accurate observation. When the bird is full grow^l, the wings, 

 when closed, very nearly reach the extremity of the tail, which may be observed to be 

 strikmgly rounded in its outline l>y the regular« abbreviation of the feathers on either 

 side. 



