24 HILL BIRDS OF SCOTLAND 



owing to the protracted absence of its mother, it will yell 

 repeatedly and lustily. I once quieted such a youngster 

 by placing a freshly-killed grouse to wmdward of it, to 

 act as a screen against the cold north-easter which was 

 sweeping the glen. 



The Golden Eagle has a curious and quite erroneous 

 reputation for bravery where the defence of its young is 

 concerned which is difficult to explain. It is always a 

 disagreeable duty to shatter a reputation — and a firmly- 

 grounded reputation, too — but I am afraid that the eagle 

 shows, what to us at all events appears to be a philosophic 

 indifference as to the fate of its young, and as for attacking 

 the intruder at its eyrie, well, such a thing appears never 

 so much as to enter its head. I have had my camera set 

 up on the edge of an eyrie and have photographed the 

 eaglets in various positions while the mother eagle remained 

 quietly, and seemingly without anxiety, perched on a rock 

 on the hill face opposite. Whether she by this time — I 

 had on several occasions visited the eyrie before — realised 

 that I had no evil intentions towards her children, I do not 

 know ; but she was either trustful or indifferent. 



The traditions handed down in the Highlands of eagles 

 carrying children to the eyrie are largely mythical. No 

 doubt such cases have occurred, but they are due to the 

 carelessness of mothers who have left their babies un- 

 attended in some out-of-the-way spot. Under these cir- 

 cumstances what can be more natural than that an eagle 

 on his hunting operations should spy what seems to him 

 to be a dainty morsel, and should immediately stoop 

 down and carry it off to his young ? We cannot well 

 blame him. Sometimes, during recent years, such cases 

 have been reported in the papers, but have been proved, 

 one and all, to be without foundation. 



In Spain the wild goats have a relentless enemy in the 

 eagle, for the birth of the kids coincides with the period 



