A GOLDEN EAGLE. 9 



marks the path of the avalanche, the hills around bore 

 witness to the fact that here, in this lone mountain 

 fastness, was a dwelling-place meet for the King of 

 Birds and his royal spouse. 



At first glance the position might well seem impreg- 

 nable to a casual observer, for the nest was situated on 

 a narrow ledge some two hundred feet above the water, 

 and at this point the rock was practically perpendicular. 

 There were, however, two means of reaching the eyrie, 

 one from above and the other from below. By choosing 

 the former, by far the easier of the two, we could probably 

 approach within a few yards of the female if she was still 

 brooding, but, fearing lest our sudden appearance should 

 alarm her and cause her to desert, I decided to climb 

 from below. To active men the task presented no great 

 difficulties, and a few minutes' hard work brought us 

 to the end of a narrow ledge, while the burn roaring at 

 the foot of the cliff deadened the sound of our footsteps. 

 Before me the ledge turned abruptly to the right, and 

 I peeped cautiously round the corner, just in time to 

 see the female fling herself into mid-air from the nest. 

 She sailed down the corrie, poised herself majestically 

 in space beside her mate, then both vanished from our 

 sight behind the shoulder of a distant hill. There 

 were two eggs in the Eagle's eyrie (Plate 1), both worn 

 and faded through long exposure and incubation, one, 

 as my friend had stated, being almost white and bearing 

 a close resemblance to a giant egg of some barn-door 

 fowl. The fact should here be noted that on no 

 occasion did I see the Eagle rise from her nest. She 

 invariably flapped down the corrie close to the side of 

 the hill, and subsequently either soared gradually 

 upwards or sat watching us on a point of rock about 

 half a mile away. During a long experience of Eagles 

 I have never known the parents return to the eyrie 

 when a man was near, if the latter was within their 

 sight, nor have I seen them make the slightest 



