152 THE GOLDEN EAGLE 



in Great Britain during autumn and winter. It is sometimes seen 

 in large flights on the Yarmouth Denes in October and November, 

 at the same time with the Short-horned Owl. It mostly frequents 

 the banks of rivers, where it feeds on vermin, reptiles, and the 

 carcases of animals brought down by the floods. In softness of 

 plumage and mode of flight, it resembles the Owls even more than 

 the preceding species, and often extends its hunting expeditions 

 until far into the evening. When not alarmed, it flies slowly and 

 deliberately, and seemingly has neither the inclination nor the 

 power to attack living birds, unless they have been previously 

 disabled by wounds or other cause. The Rough-legged Buzzard 

 builds its nest in lofty trees, and lays three or four eggs ; but 

 there are no well-authenticated instances of its breeding in this 

 country. 



THE SPOTTED EAGLE 



AQUILA NJiVIA 



General colour reddish brown ; tail brown above ; legs feathered in front of 

 the toes. Length twenty-six inches. 



This species is only a rare straggler to Great Britain. 



Sub-Family AQUILINE 

 THE GOLDEN EAGLE 



AQUILA CHRYSAETOS 



Tail longer than the wings, rounded ; plumage of the head, back of the neck 

 and legs, lustrous reddish brown, of the rest of the body dark brown ; 

 primaries nearly black ; secondaries brownish black ; tail dark grey, 

 barred and tipped with brownish black ; beak bluish at the base, black 

 at the extremity ; iris brown ; cere and feet yellow ; claws bluish black. 

 Length of the male three feet, that of the female more ; breadth eight 

 feet. Eggs dirty white, mottled with pale reddish brown. 



The fable of the Eagle soaring to a great height in order to enjoy 

 a gaze at the sun in his unclouded brilliancy, is founded probably 

 on a belief of the ancients, thus stated by the naturalist Pliny : — 

 ' Before its young are as yet fledged, the Eagle compels them to 

 gaze at the rays of the sun, and if it observes one to wink or show 

 a watery eye casts it from the nest as a degenerate offspring ; if, 

 on the contrary, it preserves a steady gaze, it is saved from this 

 hard fate, and brought up.' 



' The Golden Eagle ', says Macgillivray, ' seems to prefer live 



