THE GOLDEN EAGLE 11 



the hen bird is captured on the nest. The keepers have, 

 I admit, a strong argument on their side to support their 

 line of conduct, but I really believe that the birds in this 

 instance prey very largely on the blue hares which are 

 more numerous, hereabouts, than on any other hills that 

 I know of. This partiality of the eagle for hares can 

 easily be understood, for poor puss has but little chance 

 of escaping her winged adversary unless there is rocky 

 ground near. Once amongst the rocks, however, she is 

 comparatively safe. An instance is on record of an eagle 

 losing a hare under a large rock. The fugitive was hard 

 pressed when she made for this place of refuge, and on 

 seeing her disappear the eagle seemed at a loss how to act. 

 He hopped from one side of the rock to another ; then 

 apparently realising that he was powerless under such 

 annoying circumstances spread his wings and sailed 

 quietly away. A different state of affairs prevails, how- 

 ever, when the pursued hare seeks cover amongst bushes 

 or undergrowth, for then the eagle routs out the fugi- 

 tive by repeated blows from his wings upon the shelter- 

 ing bush. 



Having captured and killed their prey, eagles are some- 

 times seen to drop their victim from a great height and, 

 stooping like lightning after the falling body, reach and 

 secure it long before it has touched the ground. Some- 

 times, though seldom, it is true, they are too late in their 

 pursuit, and a veteran highland stalker told me an in- 

 teresting story of how he once discovered a freshly-killed 

 hare lying on the snow with no footprints of any kind 

 around. It had undoubtedly been dropped by an eagle, 

 and personally I have more than once found ptarmigan 

 on the ground under circumstances which led me to sup- 

 pose that in these cases also the eagle was the culprit. 



The eagle and the hill fox have similar tastes, and be- 

 tween them is, as a rule, an armed neutrality. But at 



