8 Bird-keeping. 



just before the hounds are upon it ; they are keen 

 fishermen too, and are sometimes drowned by pouncing 

 upon large pike, which have carried them under water. 

 Nothing is more grand than the swoop of this bird, 

 and he ought to be seen in his native wilds : the 

 wretched prisoners whom one occasionally sees shut 

 up in a cage, or chained to a tree, give one no idea of 

 the wild bird. No doubt it could be trained, like the 

 Falcon, to fly at game, and might be tamed to a cer- 

 tain extent. Many instances are on record of this ; 

 but its weight would be a drawback to its value in 

 falconry, and one cannot imagine it happy in captivity. 

 Tame Eagles are said to have a particular liking for 

 the flesh of cats, and to prefer it on all occasions to 

 that of the rabbits, fowls, etc., generally provided for 

 them. But I have heard of a SEA EAGLE (Haliaetus 

 albicillci) in captivity, who, although its favourite food 

 was fish, would feed freely on the flesh of any creature 

 but cats. This bird was confined in a very large cage, 

 in which was placed the hollow trunk of a tree ; but 

 it would never resort to its shelter, and would not even 

 take the food put into it. It would recognize the per- 

 son accustomed to feed it, but never became tame. 

 On one occasion of a school treat being held on the 

 lawn near its cage, a child was seen crying bitterly, 

 and on being questioned, complained that the eagle 

 had come to the side of its cage, to which she had been 

 incautiously near, and had ta*ken away her bun, for- 



