214 AQUILA CHRYSAETUS. 



In searching for prey, it flies at no great height, sometimes 

 only a few yards from the ground, generally two or three hun- 

 dred feet, advancing with regular flaps of the wings and alter- 

 nate sailings, often wheeling in circles wide or narrow accord- 

 ing to circumstances. It never balances itself in a particular 

 spot, hovering, in the manner of the Kestrel, with a rapid un- 

 dulating motion of the wings, its weight and the great length 

 of those members, rendering, I suppose, such a mode of explor- 

 ing the ground beneath it impracticable. On such occasions it 

 moves in silence, and often solitarily, but I have many times 

 seen a pair flying together. Should they meet another bird of 

 the same species, or a White-tailed Sea-Eagle, they usually 

 emit their loud yelping cries, and maintain a proper distance. 

 These cries are louder and clearer than those of the species just 

 mentioned, but precisely similar in character. 



It is chiefly in the Outer Hebrides that I have studied the 

 habits of the Golden Eagle, which, however, is less common 

 there than the other species, although by no means rare. It 

 occurs in all the mountainous parts of the northern and mid- 

 dle divisions of Scotland, both in the maritime and inland dis- 

 tricts, but is far more numerous in the western than in the 

 eastern portions of these divisions. Individuals are now and 

 then met with in the southern division, and in various parts of 

 England, but it seems doubtful that any now breed to the 

 south of the Friths of Clyde and Forth. Vast numbers have 

 of late years been destroyed in consequence of the extension of 

 sheep-farming in the Highlands ; and upwards of twenty indi- 

 viduals appear to be annually prepared in Scotland as domestic 

 ornaments. 



In a state of captivity the Golden Eagle usually retains all 

 its original ferocity, and cannot be much trusted, although per- 

 haps somewhat more generous than the White-tailed Sea- 

 Eagle. One or two instances, however, are mentioned of its 

 having been perfectly tamed, and even trained to hunt. It is 

 commonly reported to attain a very old age. 



On the Continent of Europe its distribution extends from 

 Norway to the Alps and Pyrenees ; and in North America it 

 has been observed from Labrador to Pennsylvania. 



