AQUILA CHRYSAETUS 



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golden eagles for several years, Selby says : — " After close 

 attention they seemed nntameable, their fierceness being in no 

 respect diminished since he first received them. They showed 

 no partiality for the person who fed them ; were as ready to 

 strike him as a stranger." This may be true of eagles kept in 

 confinement; but if taken young and allowed their freedom, 

 they will, like the falcon, show a preference for the hand that 

 feeds them — at least, I had a tame peregrine falcon which 

 knew me from the tower of St Regulus, and alighted on my 

 shoulder; and before me lies "The Story of an Eagle," from 

 the Spectator: — 



"A full-grown eagle, which had got an injury, was fed by the gardener 

 at an old Castle in the west, once the home of the chiefs of a Highland 

 Clan for perhaps as long as the cliff of which it almost forms a part has been 

 the eyrie of the sea eagles. When cured and released, it returned to be 

 fed, and grew so familiar as to enter the house. The dining-room, as in 

 many Scotch houses, was at the top of the Castle, with several windows 

 looking out over the Atlantic. Breakfast was laid, the guests in the room, 

 when an open window was suddenly darkened, and the eagle flew in from 

 the sea, and alighted on the sill. It then flapped on to the table, and after 

 looking at the guests standing in the room, it made its way down the table 

 and swallowed the butter, which was set at intervals down the board. For 

 two years the eagle lived about the Castle ; but its visits to the farmyards 

 were not less frequent, and though ' indemnity'' for these outrages was 

 freely paid, it is feared that the eagle's disappearance was due to the 

 reprisal from an injured flock owner. There is good reason to believe that 

 the golden eagle, which at one time seemed destined to extermination, is 

 rapidly increasing in numbers."— Nov. 22th, 1891. 



Selby's eagle " showed a preference for living prey, and would 

 not eat offal or carrion except pressed by hunger. Hares, rabbits, 

 and cats were favourite food. Living prey thrown to them were 

 instantly pounced on by a stroke behind the head and another 

 near the heart, the bill never being used but for tearing up their 

 prey when dead. Part of the fur was swallowed, and after- 

 wards disgorged from the mouth. They displayed adroitness in 

 skinning animals, and birds were plucked with great dexterity. 

 They rarely drank, but were partial to washing themselves. 

 The female was very noisy in spring, and clamorous before wet 

 or stormy weather. A pair were kept at Mar Lodge, Aberdeen- 

 shire. For three successive years the female laid eggs similar 

 in size and colour to those in a wild state. Before laying she 

 became restless and noisy, and tried to form a nest of loose 

 materials thrown into the cage. An anxious desire to incubate 

 was also shown, but no experiments were made as to her 

 hatching." But if you would see this magnificent bird in its 

 native grandeur, you must retire to the rude rocks and rugged 

 mountains. Yet, even there, like the human Gael, this fierce but 



