G6 THE FEATHERED TRIBES. 



As soon, however, as the young become capable of seeking their subsistence, they are 

 driven from the nest and compelled to choose a distant spot for their retreat. So jealous, 

 indeed, are the eagles of the undivided sovereignty of the districts they inhabit, that they 

 will not suffer even their own progeny to hunt within the circle of their domains. 



Golden eagles sometimes attain a very great age. Klein mentions one that had been 

 confined at Vienna for upwards of a century, and died there in 1719. Supposing an 

 error to have arisen in this instance, we have abundant evidence that these birds will live 

 for a considerable time in a state of captivity. All that is requisite to their subsistence 

 is sufficient food, and with their lot they appear perfectly content. 



Indocile as the great eagle may seem, it was formerly employed in the East for the 

 purposes of hunting. Some people of the north still train this bird for the chase. The 

 Kirguis, whose comitry is situated eastward of the Caspian Sea, judge by certain marks 

 of the disposition of these eagles ; and purchase from the Russians of Samara, at a gi-eat 

 price, eagles taken from the nest, to train them to hunt the wolf, the fox, and the gazelle. 



The golden eagle buUds on all the mountain chains of Europe, Asia Minor, Tartary, 

 Siberia, and the North of Africa, and in the northern regions of America. It was once 

 common in many of the hilly districts of England, and till lately it bred annually in West> 

 moreland, Cumberland, and the Peak of Derbyshire. In Scotland and Ireland it still 

 frequents the mountains, and is occasionally seen in Wales. Wooded momitain scenery, 

 with bold abrupt rocks and steep craggy precipices, are its favourite abode. 



The nest of the golden eagle forms a solid platform, of several feet in width, built of 

 sticks and branches of trees, interlaced mth smaller twigs, and crowned with layers of 

 reeds or heath. The female seldom lays more than two or three eggs, of a dirty white, 

 spotted with red. 



This bii'd, in its adult state, is almost wholly coloured of a dusky brown, with an 

 admixture of lighter brown on the edges of the feathers, and particularly on the shoulders. 

 The feathers appear to be for the most part white at the base, or accompanied by a fine 

 white down, so that when they are ruffled the brown colour of the surface appears to be 

 mixed or mottled with white. The entire tail is of a imiform brownish black, varied 

 only by occasional transverse narrow wavy bars of gray. When full gi-own, the 

 golden eagle measures about three feet in length, and upwards of seven in the expanse 

 of its wings. 



It has been said with truth of one class of the birds now under our consideration : — 



" Tlic tawny caglo seals his callow brood 

 High on the cliff, and feasts his young with blood ; 

 On Snowdon's rocks, or Orkney's wide domain, 

 Whose beetlinf; clifl's oVrliang the western main, 

 The royal bird liis lonely kingdom tbrms 

 Amidst the gathering clouds and sullen storms ; 

 Through the wide waste of air he darts his sight, 

 And holds his sounding pinions poised for (light ; 

 AVith cruel eye premeditates the war, 

 And marks his destined victim from afar : 

 Descending in a whirlwind to (he ground. 

 His pinions like the rush of waters sound ; 

 The fairest of the fold he bears away, 

 And to his nest com]>el» the struggling prey ; 

 lie scorns the game by meaner hunters tore, 

 And (li))» his (;ilons in no vulgar gore." * 



• Mrs. Harbauld. 



