16 AQUILA CHRYSAETUS. 



§ 26. Tbo.— Sutherlandshire, 27 April, 1849. " J. W. ipse.y 



Hewitson, ' Eggs of British Birds/ Ed. 3. pi. iii. figs. 1, 2. 



We started from the inn with two men carrying the sixty-fathom 

 ropes which 1 had had made in the town. We rested at a place where 

 the foreman was anxious to get rid of Eagles, and sent for the shep- 

 herd, at whose house we had been the day before, and who was to fol- 

 low us. We heard many different accounts — how that the foxhunter 

 killed one Eagle a few weeks ago, &c. Some were willing to mislead 

 us, others not so, but all agreed that the nest was inaccessible. 



We reached the crag after a walk of some eight or nine miles from 

 the village. It is a very high cliff, overhanging a large loch of the 

 same name. A small birch wood slopes from it to the water. We 

 saw an Eagle fly, and settle again at the top of the cliff. Arrived 

 at the shepherd's house, he agreed to come with us, and his son 

 was to show us the nest; but afterwards the old fellow tui-ned 

 coward and would not come near the edge. Having returned under 

 guidance of the shepherd's son to where we saw the Eagle, 1 made 

 out the nest with the help of my glass, but 1 could not point it 

 out exactly to my companion. However, he was to remain beloAv 

 with the boy, to signal to me where it was. Having reached the 

 top in about half an hour, 1 tied myself to the thick rope, and 

 proceeded, gun in hand, over a ledge to an undercliff of from ten to 

 twenty feet wide, along which 1 walked some forty or fifty yards. 1 

 leaned over the edge, and saw the sticks of the nest some little distance 

 to my right. 1 got up, shouted and made all the noise I could ; but 

 no Eagle came out. I saw one soaring silently at a great height. 1 

 had been led to believe that there was only one bird belonging to the 

 nest; so, after all the noise 1 had made, 1 took it for granted that 

 this was the one. 1 shouted for the little rope, and tied a stone and 

 a piece of white paper to it, for my companion to signal when it was 

 opposite the nest. However, 1 found afterwards that he could not 

 distinguish it. 1 could only just make him out to be waving his cap, 

 he was so far below. No sooner was the stone over the edge of the 

 rock than out dashed an Eagle close to me, within five yards, and 

 with one low cry of alarm flew away to the right, down the valley. 

 Evidently a Mountain Eagle, as the shepherds had all called it (it 

 looked rather " ring-tailed") : 1 was not altogether sorry at having laid 

 aside my gun. 



All was now finally planned. The men wisely thought it would be 

 better to have the stake driven and everything done upon the ledge. 

 The shepherd, being an old man, did not dare come doAvn. After a 



