EAGLE SHOOTING. 143 



and fall not asleep, while I read a page or two of this choice 

 book. The eagle has not yet come abroad, and possibly the 

 first thing to attract his notice may be this very carcass. 



" The Golden Eagle has ever been associated with majesty 

 or nobility ; in ancient mythology, an eagle was alone thought 

 worthy to bear the thunder of Jove. By rude and savage 

 nations he is combined with courage and independence. The 

 young Indian warrior glories in his eagle's plume as the most 

 distinguished ornament with which he can adorn himself. The 

 dress of the Highland chieftain is incomplete without this 

 badge of high degree. And if, by the trammels of system 

 (which, nevertheless, is indispensable, when the number of 

 objects to be arranged exceeds eight thousand) we are forced 

 to place him in an aberrant or less honourable situation, yet, 

 when met with on his native mountains, free and uncontrolled, 

 we cannot refuse the tribute which has been rendered to him 

 by our predecessors."" That we sha'n't. Let him but present 

 himself, and he shall have a tribute of buckshot. But here in 

 the bag are some remaining leaves of another valuable book, 

 and as fortune favours the brave, so here we have a sketch of 

 the Golden Eagle. " Their feathers are tinted and tempered 

 in the fury of the blast ; and they acquire not their full depth 

 and lustre till they have borne that for four successive winters ; 

 and so it would be vain to hope that we could either obtain or 

 preserve them in confinement." Come, mind your gun, and 

 don't stare at me. I read fairly. " Her strength of endurance 

 also enables her to keep her footing and preserve her existence, 

 under circumstances to which the powers and the life of almost 

 any other animal would be obliged to yield. The same elastic 

 ligament, which, of its own nature, and without effort from 

 the bird, compresses her toes in clutching, enables her to cling 

 to the pinnacle of the rock, and to cling the more firmly the 

 ruder the blast. The claws are not used in those cases, as that 

 would injure their points and unfit them for their proper func- 

 tions ; but the pads and tubercles hold on upon places where 

 the foot of all else would give way ; and the Eagle sits with 

 closed wings and close plumage, as if part of the rock itself, 

 while the wind roars and the snow drives, tearing the bushes 



