McGILP — Kagles and //a irks. 07 



They do nol a I lack willi liu' l»ilK i)iii always sirikc with Ihe 

 talons. 



Any sheejyowiiei', in Eagle-iufestetl disti-irrs. who personally 

 a I Tends to his sheep during lainl>in^ lime, knows from exjjp- 

 rience rhat the Ivigle does nnu'h destinrtion amongst lambs. In 

 many districts, where Eagles are nnmerons, a bonus is j»aid for 

 killing them. This jiaynient would n(}t be nnide without good 

 reason ; this has been the result of mneh observation. It might 

 be of interest to state that l^he jtastoralist does not encoui-age 

 the destruction of Hawks, and i-egret is frecpiently expressed 

 that so many of these useful birds meet their end by eating 

 poisoned baits laid for dogs, foxes and Eagles. In the "bush'" 

 one comes into close contact with natui'e and soon realizes the 

 "good" and the "bad/' or friend and foe. 



1 have seen Eagles kill lambs that were in good, strong 

 condition, and attended by their niothei-s and on one occasion 

 I noted several Eagles swooping at a three months old lamb, 

 that they were driving out of a tlock, with its mother following 

 along bleating for its lamb. Hefore 1 could reach them, the 

 lamb fell, and two of the Eagles landed alongside. The lamb 

 however, struggled to its feet and staggered, on with the birds 

 still attacking. My arrival disturbed them from effecting a 

 kill. The land] when caught, was exhausted and so badly 

 mauled on neck and back that it had to be destroyed. The body, 

 which had many talon marks, two of which had penetrated into 

 the stomach cavity, was poisoned with strychnine, and three 

 hours later nine dead Eagles were found close at hand. 



'[f is doubtful if a single Eagle can secure a healthy lamb 

 from its mother, but two or more certainly can. They worry 

 the ewe until it cannot j/rotect its lamb, in much the same way 

 that several wild dogs will worry a cow till it is too exhausted 

 to save its calf. 



The remains of many birds have been found on and under 

 the Eagle's nest and feeding ]»latforms, but it is not advisable 

 to claim that they were killed by the Eagle; it is quite possible 

 that some of these were taken from hawks or animals. The 

 remains of lambs are often seen under and on the Eagle's nest, 

 but no one can. with certainty, say that they were killed by the 

 Eagle, as it is a great carrion feeder, and may have carried to 

 the nest something that it had found dead, though as a rule only 

 freshly killed food is brought to the young. 



The Little Eagle is a very much smaller edition of the 

 Wedge-tailed Eagle, it has fpa<-hers right down to its claws, but 

 in its habits differs greatly from the former. It is the best bird 

 agent for killing rabbits in the interior, and so far as observa- 



