STORIES ABOUT BIRDS. 145 



down at tlie eagle, wlien the eagle, in the air, 

 very deliberately threw himself partly over on 

 his back, and, while he grasped the fish with 

 one foot, stretched out the other to threaten or 

 seize the hawk. 



The bearded eagle, or the lammer-geyer^ as it 

 is called by the Swiss peasants, inhabits the 

 highest parts of the great chain of the Alps 

 which separates Switzerland. They are very 

 large, sometimes measuring seven or eight feet 

 from the beak to the tip of the tail. 



Mr. Bruce, who traveled extensively in Abys- 

 sinia, gives a thrilling description of an adven- 

 ture he had with one of these birds. " Upon 

 the highest top of the mountain," says he, 

 " while my servants were refreshing themselves 

 after the fatigue of that rugged ascent, and were 

 eatuig their dinner in the open air, with several 

 large dishes of boiled goats' flesh before them, 

 this robber, as he turned out to be, suddenly 

 made his appearance. He did not stoop rapidly 

 from a height, but came flying slowly along the 

 ground, and sat down close to the meat, within 

 the circle the men had made around it. A 

 great shout called me to the place. I saw the 

 eagle stand for a moment, as if not quite certain 

 what he had better do. While the servants 

 ran for their lances, I walked up to within a 



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