122 GOLDEN EAGLE. 



Eagles, golden feather'cl, who do tower 

 Above us in their beauty, and must reign 

 In right thereof. 



Keats — Endymion. 



Whose joy was in the wilderness to breathe 

 The difficult air of the iced mountain top. 



The Golden Eagle is very rarely to be seen in the southern 

 portion of Great Britain. It has become rare of late years in 

 Scotland. In November, 1876, a very fine specimen was caught 

 in the park at Berrington, near Leominster. The bird had been 

 observed about the woods for some two or three weeks before it 

 was caught. Its flight was majestic, and attention was directed 

 to it, by its being frequently mobbed by Crows and other birds. 



Bring in the Crows 

 To peck the Eagles. 



Shakespeare— Corio?anMS. 



It is said on one occasion to have hovered for some time over 

 a little child at Stockton, and mothers with children became very 

 timid about it. It was caught by the talon in a trap baited with 

 half a rabbit. " It measured," says Lord Rodney, "eight feet from 

 point to point of the wings, and stood nearly three feet high. It 

 was in good plumage, and fair condition when taken. The bird is 

 now stuffed, and in a glass case at Berrington Hall. 



The captive Thrush may brook the cage 

 The prison'd Eagle dies for rage. 



Scott— Lady of the Lake. 



The Eagle is the symbol of majesty and power, and as such 

 was the imperial emblem of Rome ; and since those days the 

 Empires of France, Russia, Austria, and Germany, have adopted 

 it on their standards, in their claim to represent the Roman Empire. 



Art thou the king of birds, proud Eagle, say ? 

 — I am ; my talons and my beak bear sway. 

 A greater king than I, if thou would'st be. 

 Govern thy tongue, but let thy thoughts be free. 



Montgomery— 7?irc?«. 



In ecclesiastical art, it is the symbol of the Evangelist, St. John^ 

 and many beautiful allusions to it may be found in mediaeval 

 writers. 



