THE HOME -LIFE OF A 

 GOLDEN EAGLE. 



In a wild deer-forest situated in the heart of the 

 Grampian range, there lies a dark, gloomy corrie, where 

 the sun penetrates for but a few short hours during 

 the long summer's day. At the head of the gorge, 

 where rocks rise almost perpendicularly from the banks of 

 a brawling burn, a pair of Golden Eagles had first made 

 their eyrie in bygone days. Strictly protected by the 

 proprietors and tenants of the forest, the nest had grown 

 in bulk from year to year, and when I first climbed the 

 rock some three years ago, it was a structure of consider- 

 able size and width. On that occasion I photographed 

 the young — one egg being addled — at different stages of 

 his growth, and it was not until the Eaglet had flown 

 that I began to realize the unique possibilities which 

 the situation offered to the photographer. I determined, 

 however, that if in the future the Eagles should return 

 some attempt should be made to study their habits, 

 and, if possible, to obtain a series of pictures illustrating 

 the progress of the Eaglets, and showing the most 

 characteristic attitudes of their parents from the time 

 when incubation commenced until the young were 

 ready to leave the nest. 



Three years passed by, and at length, on April 23rd, 

 1909, the welcome news arrived that the eyrie was again 

 occupied, and that the Eagle was sitting hard on two 

 eggs. The head stalker, to whose courtesy I owed 

 this information, reported that one of the eggs was 

 almost white, and that he expected only one Eaglet to 



