BRITAIN^ BIRDS AND THEIR NESTS, 183 



and his falconship a vulturine tinge/ We hold him at 

 a disadvantage in captivity ; but yet, if the conditions 

 be of the best, he displays nearly the same bold, free 

 lines, and shows almost the same wild, fierce looks as 

 among his native mountains. Then some one he knows 

 enters his cage, speaks to him, snaps his fingers in the 

 monarch's face, and the fine lines and wild looks are 

 gone — the feathers are erected and fluffed up, and he 

 becomes almost spherical in outline. No longer is he 

 a pirate king languishing in captivity, but a ludicrous 

 buffoon. There he sits, a great fluffy ball, wearing a 

 look of imbecile complacency, and uttering the while 

 absurd httle chirps of pleasure ! 



Again, in the wild state, the close observer of his 

 habits will find evidence of the ' vulturine tinge.' The 

 Eagle shows little boldness in asserting his kingship, but, 

 on the contrary, shows himself ever ready to shirk 

 danger and obtain food by easy and ignoble means. 

 We have referred to the well-known soaring, but we 

 must make it clear that this is not a method of hunt- 

 ing. It is a mere popular fancy that the Eagle spies 

 his prey from a great height, and rushes down on it 

 like a thunderbolt. No ! When he hunts he flies low 

 over the moors, ' stooping "" from no great height on 

 the Plover, Grouse, or Mountain Hare that he has just 

 espied. In the actual seizing of these, it must be said, 

 he shows more adroitness and agility than we should 

 have expected from a bird of such apparently lazy 

 movements. In bearing off' his quarry he displays his 

 great strength. He has been known to carry off' a 

 lamb several weeks old, and often does some damage 

 to the flocks in spring. Whether any ground of truth 

 underlies the stories of Eagles caiTying off" very young 

 children one cannot be sure. One of our own High- 



