Birds of Britain 



bird has the feathers of the upper parts tipped with buff, and 

 the lower parts striped with ochreous. Length of male 

 19 in. ; the female is slightly larger. 



THE GOLDEN EAGLE 



Aquila chrysaetus (Linnaeus) 



This magnificent bird has only been preserved to us as 

 a breeding species owing to the strict protection afforded to 

 the deer in the Highlands and some of the outlying islands 

 off the west coast of Scotland. Thanks to this, it is slightly 

 on the increase in some places, though, as it meets with a 

 speedy death should it trespass over a grouse moor, it can 

 never become generally common. It is a truly grand bird 

 to watch as it soars and circles over the few miles of country 

 to which it claims suzerain rights, and eminently worthy of 

 protection as an object of natural beauty. 



The eyrie, which is resorted to year after year, is placed 

 on the ledge of a crag or more rarely in a tree. It is a 

 vast accumulation of sticks, to which additions are made 

 every year, and is lined with tufts of grass. The eggs, 

 usually two in number, are bluish white, marked to a 

 greater or lesser extent with reddish brown. 



Its food consists chiefly of mountain hares, though it 

 also takes birds, lambs, and occasionally the fawns of the 

 deer ; but although it does sometimes take grouse, they do 

 not form its chief food, and certainly the numbers taken 

 are not sufficient to warrant its destruction. 



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