THE GOLDEN EAGLE 15 



only. I replaced it in the centre of the nest, but next 

 time I visited the eyrie it had fallen to the ground fifty 

 feet below. Of its companion — there were originally two 

 eaglets — there was no sign, so I imagine the fall proved 

 fatal to it. The parent eagles had built a rough nest 

 round their surviving youngster, in order, I suppose, to 

 show any marauding fox or stoat that the eaglet was not 

 abandoned to the unkind world. I do not think eaglets 

 are so liable to fall from trees because they probably 

 realise more fully, from the swaying of the tree in the 

 wind, the fall that awaits them if they should lose their 

 hold of the nest. Again, eagles nesting on trees have, if 

 the situation of the tree be well chosen, an uninterrupted 

 outlook on every side, while those nesting on rocks have 

 an excellent view in one direction but can usually be 

 closely approached from above without their being ren- 

 dered suspicious of danger. 



The period of incubation is about six weeks — perhaps 

 a day or two under — and towards the end of her first 

 period of self-denial as a mother the eagle becomes most 

 reluctant to leave her eggs. Under such conditions she 

 will put her head over the side of her eyrie and glare 

 fiercely at the intruder, repeatedly rolling the third eye- 

 lid across her eye the while. Before the eaglets have 

 filled the eggs with their small down-clad bodies the 

 mother eagle is full of suspicions, and will leave the nest 

 while danger is still some way off. On one occasion, how- 

 ever, an eagle of my acquaintance sat so closely, even 

 during the first few days of incubation, that I was able to 

 watch her at close quarters through the glass. I re- 

 member remarking on the dark colour of her plumage ; so 

 that when I visited the eyrie five weeks later on, I was 

 surprised to see an eagle several shades lighter than my 

 former friend sail out over the glen from her nesting-tree. 

 Of course it is possible that this was the mate doing his 



