THE GOLDEN EAGLE 5 



felt the cool arctic breeze and sailed out from his giant 

 rocks which by now were burning hot in the fierce rays of 

 the sun. With his pinions wide outstretched he leaned on 

 the refreshing wind, which bore him strongly upward, 

 without a single stroke of his wings to help him on his 

 way. So he mounted higher and higher till he had risen 

 far above his native hill -top, and was outlined, a mere 

 speck, against the dark blue of the sky. Still upwards he 

 sailed, and for some time longer the watching stalker kept 

 him in view, in the field of his glass. But at length he 

 reached a point at which he was invisible, even by the aid 

 of a telescope. From that point what a gorgeous pano- 

 rama must have lain spread out before his sight in the light 

 of the summer sun. Even the highest tops were now 

 far far below him, and the river in its windings down the 

 great glen must have appeared as a thin silvery streak. 



Another occasion which I recall. The great glen was 

 in shadow, for the sun had already sunk behind Cairn 

 Toul to the west. On the sister hill, Ben Mac Dhui, to the 

 eastward, the sunlight still shone, and as I watched I saw 

 an eagle emerge from the shadow on Cairn Toul. In his 

 true inimitable fashion he was soaring leisurely, proudly, 

 in wide spirals. With each spiral he mounted higher, 

 until at length he reached the rays of the sinking sun, when 

 he was transformed into a veritable eagle of gold, and, as 

 the sun sank still lower, into this gold there came imper- 

 ceptibly a tinge of pink which lit up each great wing 

 feather of this king of the glen. 



The eagle remains with his mate throughout the year, 

 and probably pairs for life. I have on more than one 

 occasion witnessed the meeting between the eagle and 

 his mate. It would almost seem that the time and meet- 

 ing-place had been agreed upon before they set out on 

 their hunting with the coming of the dawn. Only a short 

 while ago, on a dull and misty October day — a day when 



