THE GOLDEN EAGLE 



{Aiiuila chrysaetus) 



As the Crane and the Bustard have been exterminated 

 from the lowland fens and wolds, the Golden Eagle has 

 been finally banished from English woods and crags, and 

 must now be classed amongst the rarest of our British birds. 

 True, a year scarce passes without one or two of these birds 

 venturing over the border from their native mountains to 

 more lowland scenes ; but their fate is certain, and it is only a 

 question of time before their murder is duly recorded in some 

 local newspaper. The Golden Eagle is one of the noblest of 

 the birds of prey, and by repute certainly the best known. 

 It is not, however, the good fortune of every lover of bird-life 

 to have the opportunity of seeing this noble bird at home ; 

 I will therefore ask the reader to accompany me in imagina- 

 tion to the distant glens and mountains of the north, where 

 I will endeavour to show him the Golden Eagle in its native 

 wilds. 



We must leave the haunts of man and his industries far 

 behind us and penetrate into wilds where nature reigns 

 supreme, ere we can hope to meet with this noble bird. The 

 home of the Eagle is amongst the last remnants of primeval 

 Britain. Where he lives the mountains tower on every side, 

 their summits generally hid in cloud-banks or tipped with snow 

 of brilliant whiteness. Eocky glens, wild streams, and broad 

 stretches of moorland waste, above which Curlews and Plovers 



