GOLDEN EAGLE. 215 



Mr Low, in his Fauna Orcadensis, has the following state- 

 ment respecting this species : — " It is very frequent in the hills, 

 where it makes its nest in the rocks, which is often placed 

 within reach, and, when this is the case, always becomes a 

 prey to destruction. These birds are very strong, and make 

 vast havock (in breeding time especially) among lambs and 

 young and old swine, which they often destroy in the moun- 

 tains, rabbits, and poultry. A clergyman some time ago told 

 me he met with one of them mounted in the air, with a pretty 

 large pig in her talons, which she dropt alive upon his firing 

 at her. We have even a tradition here of an eagle's having 

 taken up a child from behind some reapers, in the Parish of 

 Orphir, and carried it to her nest in Hoy ; but by the assiduity 

 of the people, who immediately followed her, the child was 

 rescued." In the island of Harris there is a similar tradition 

 of an eagle's having carried a child across the Minsh to the 

 island of Skye, a distance of more than sixteen miles. Mr 

 Dunn states that in Orkney the Golden Eagle breeds among 

 the cliffs on the west side of Hoy Hill, but is so scarce that he 

 only saw a single pair. In Shetland it ranks in the account of 

 the birds of that country sent to me by Dr Edmondston as a 

 very rare visitant. 



Among the " vulgar errors'" which the light of truth has 

 not yet entirely dispelled, is the notion of eagles soaring to a 

 great height that they may have the pleasure of gazing on the 

 unclouded glory of the sun, for which purpose it is said their 

 eyes are furnished with a semi-transparent membrane, that is 

 drawn over the cornea to prevent the injury likely to result 

 from too great a blaze of light. But all birds, the red grouse, 

 for example, the domestic goose, the sparrow, which no one 

 suspects of a peculiar or poetical propensity to admire the sun- 

 beams, have a membrane of the same kind as that of the Eagle. 

 Another error is, that Eagles soar to a vast height for the pur- 

 pose of surveying the subjacent lands and sea, in order to dis- 

 cover their prey. I have never seen an eagle descend upon an 

 object from such a height, and when obviously searching for 

 food, eagles always fly low over the surface, just as Buzzards, 

 Harriers, and Sparrow Hawks do. 



