6 HILL BIRDS OF SCOTLAND 



the high hills have a special charm — an eagle passed close 

 above my head as I lay amongst the heather. He had 

 come from the highest grounds, from out of the impene- 

 trable mist which had stolen softly across the hill-faces 

 with the strengthening of the day, and he was sailing in a 

 straight line for a hill on the far side of the glen. With 

 the aid of a powerful glass, I marked the eagle until he 

 had reached a point above the far ridge. Here, with a 

 sudden stoop from the higher skies, his mate joined him, 

 and for a time they circled round each other with manifest 

 signs of happiness, before alighting together on the ridge 

 from where they could command the glen. 



On fine clear days of summer, when only the lightest 

 of breezes stirs and when the sun shines full on hill and 

 corrie, the Golden Eagle is wont to resort to some favourite 

 perch of his, where he may stand motionless for hours 

 on end digesting his latest meal. I have found interesting 

 things amongst the castings which lie scattered around 

 such a perch. I once saw the remains of a claw of either 

 a grouse or ptarmigan, and, still more curious, a portion 

 of a ptarmigan's egg-shell. The eagle is tireless on the 

 wing, and spends days, especially during fine weather, in 

 crossing and recrossing the mountain-tops and driving 

 the ptarmigan before him. This he does at times for the 

 mere pleasure of the chase, and not because he is anxious 

 to satisfy his appetite upon an unlucky IMountain Grouse. 

 While near the summit of the Cairngorm one fine day 

 towards the end of October I noticed that ptarmigan 

 were present to the leeward side of the cairn — a strong 

 wind was blowing from the south-west — in greater numbers 

 than I ever had seen them at this elevation of 4000 feet. 

 The birds were showing considerable restlessness, and the 

 cause of this restlessness was soon apparent, for an eagle 

 showed himself moving idly over the plateau. There 

 were many ptarmigan on the ground which the eagle 



