iiS 



British Birds. 



THE 

 GOLDEN EAGLE. 

 {Aqttila chyysaitiis.) 



rabbits and other small mammals, as well as reptiles and water-fowl. The nest 

 is placed in trees, and is made of sticks. The eggs are three or four in number, 

 white or greenish white, with rufous markings. 



The large size and feathered legs, in addition to the tawny 

 colour on the hind neck will always serve to distinguish a 

 Golden Eagle. In the old birds the ashy grey tail, mottled 

 and tipped with brown, is a characteristic feature, and in the 

 young birds the tail is white for its basal half. The species is now undoubtedly more 

 plentiful m Scotland than it used to be, owing to the protection which has been 

 afforded to it during 

 recent years, but it 

 has been exter- 

 minated in the 

 parts of England 

 and Wales in which 

 it used to breed for- 

 merly. In Ireland 

 it still breeds in a 

 few counties. It is 

 found throughout 

 the mountains of 

 Europe, Northern 

 and Central Asia, as 

 well as in the Hima- 

 layas, and through- 

 out the northern 

 parts of North 

 America. The 



Golden Eagle feeds - 

 on hares and rab- 

 bits, but will also 



eat carrion on occasion ; it is much detested by the sheep-farmers on account of the 

 damage it causes by killing lambs and even sheep, and is often caught in traps. The 

 nest is a large and clumsy structure of sticks and is placed on a shelf of rock or in a 

 small natural cave. The eggs are two or three in numlier. white, nchly marked 

 with rufous, these markings sometimes clouding the whole egg, and while in others 

 they are absent altogether. 



An accidental visitor to Great Britain, where it has occurred 

 in England and Ireland, but it has not been met with as j-et in 



The Golden Eagle. 



THE LARGER 

 SPOTTED EAGLE. 



{Aqitila macitlata.) 



Scotland. There are two races of Spotted-Eagle in Europe, a 

 small one and a large one, and it is the latter which has occurred 



