THE GOLDEN EAGLE 21 



the age of a month that it is allowed to consume the 

 entrails of the prey. When the eagles are young, they are 

 fed twice a day — at daybreak and about five in the after- 

 noon, and at the latter hour the parent eagle may often 

 be seen winging her way back from a hunting expedition, 

 carrying in her talons a fat grouse, which gives her a curious 

 appearance, not unlike a miniature aeroplane. 



The most interesting sidelight I ever had on the 

 domestic affairs of the eagle was just at sunrise one July 

 morning, in a glen where a pair of these birds have nested 

 in a fir tree from time immemorial. The eyrie had origin- 

 ally contained two birds, but the cock eaglet had taken 

 his departure a day or two before my visit, and was await- 

 ing to be fed somewhere amongst the long heather below 

 the nest. I could see, from my hiding-place, one of the 

 parent eagles standing on guard on the hill -top. The 

 morning wind ruffled its feathers as it stood there on the 

 skyline, and from time to time it cast its glance upwards, 

 evidently expecting the arrival of its mate. At last it 

 soared up, and I saw the second bird arriving from what 

 had evidently been an early morning foray. The foray 

 had been unsuccessful, however, and for a time the two 

 birds circled round each other as if discussing future 

 plans, for a hungry eaglet yelping in the nest below brought 

 home to them the fact that a grouse or hare must be 

 provided at all cost. Soon a new plan of campaign was 

 formed, and the bird which had previously been on guard 

 set out westward, flying high, and evidently making for 

 hunting-grounds a considerable distance off. Its mate 

 accompanied it a short distance, and then, sweeping round, 

 returned to the hillside and took up guard above the 

 nest. 



It is possible, I think, by paying repeated visits to an 

 eyrie, to tame the eaglets to a certain extent. There was 

 one eaglet which, after a time, used to feed from my hand. 



