3 I 8 GOLDEN EAGLE. 



Moffat Hills, and for some years after 1850 in Ayrshire, Dumfries 

 and Galloway. To the Lowlands of Scotland the Golden Eagle is, 

 even now, not an unfrequent visitor in the cold season ; but its 

 breeding-places are confined to the Highlands and the islands on 

 the western side, where, owing to the protection afforded by many 

 of the proprietors of deer-forests, its numbers, severely thinned in 

 former years by grouse-preservers and sheep-farmers, have to some 

 extent recovered ; it no longer, however, nests in the Orkneys, and 

 has never been known to do so in the Shetlands. In Ireland only 

 a few pairs remain, in the north and west. 



The Golden Eagle inhabits the mountainous and some of the 

 forest regions of Europe, from Lapland to the Mediterranean : of 

 North Africa ; of Asia as far west as Kamschatka, the Amoor and 

 Japan, and southward to the Himalayas; and of North America; 

 but it is unknown in Greenland. Over this vast area consider- 

 able variations in size and plumage are observed : — examples from 

 Western Europe being darker than those from the Central and 

 Southern portion ; adults as well as young from the eastern half of 

 Russia have a great deal of white at the base of the tail ; and the 

 maximum of size appears to be attained in the lofty ranges of 

 Central Asia and the Himalayas. Four distinct species, one of 

 which is divided into five varieties, are recognized by the Russian 

 naturalists. 



The nest — generally placed on a crag in mountainous regions, 

 but often in a tree, and occasionally on the ground — is a large 

 platform of sticks, lined with softer materials, such as the cone- 

 shaped tufts of Luzula sylvatica. The eggs, laid early in April, are 

 usually 2, and sometimes 3 in number, though an instance of 4 

 is recorded by Sir J. W. P. Campbell-Orde. Some are dull greyish- 

 white or mottled-buff, while others are streaked and blotched, and 

 often richly suffused with every shade, of reddish-brown and lilac: 

 average measurements 2-9 by 2-3 in. In Scotland the "Black" 

 Eagle, as it is called, feeds to a great extent upon mountain-hares, 

 and on the Continent upon marmots and similar anim.als ; it also 

 takes lambs, grouse and other birds ; occasionally fawns, and the 

 ' calves ' of red deer ; nor does it despise carrion. Its note is a 

 shrill squeal, ending in an abrupt bark. 



The general colour is dark brown, tawny on the nape; the tail is 

 mottled with dark grey in the adults ; but the basal half is white in 

 the young, in which also the body-feathers are white at the base ; 

 thighs dark brown; legs feathered to the toes. Length 32-36 in., 

 the female being larger than the male. 



