THE EAGLE. 113 



which he went to see a nest, which for several summers 

 two Eagles had occupied ; it was upon a rock or a hill. 

 There was a stone within a few yards of it, about six 

 feet long, and nearly as broad, and upon this stone 

 almost constantly, but always when they had young, the 

 gentleman and his servants found a number of grouse, 

 partridges, hares, rabbits, ducks, snipes, ptarmigans, rats, 

 mice, &c., and sometimes kids, fawns, and lambs. When 

 the young Eagles were able to hop the length of this 

 stone, to which there was a narrow road hanging over a 

 dreadful precipice, the Eagles, he learned, often brought 

 hares and rabbits alive, and placing them before their 

 young, taught them to kill and tear them to pieces, as a 

 cat brings live mice to her kittens, and teaches them to 

 kill them. Sometimes, it seems, hares, rabbits, rats, &c., 

 not being sufficiently weakened by wounds, got off from 

 the young ones, while they were amusing themselves 

 with them; and one day a rabbit escaped into a hole, 

 where the old Eagle could not find it. The parent bird 

 another day brought to her young ones the cub of a fox, 

 which, after it had fought well, and desperately bitten 

 the young ones, attempted to make its escape up the 

 hill, and would, in all probability, have accomplished it, 

 had not the shepherd, who was watching the motion of 

 the Eagles with a view to shoot them, which they do 

 with bullets (Swan-shot not being able to penetrate their 

 feathers), prevented it. 



As the Eagles kept what might be called such an ex- 

 cellent storehouse, whenever visitors came unexpectedly, 

 the owner said he was in the frequent habit of sending 

 his servants to see what his neighbours the birds had to 

 spare ; and that they scarcely ever returned without some 

 dainty dishes for his table, game of all kinds being rather 

 the better than the worse for being kept a certain time. 

 When the gentleman or his servants carried off things 

 from the shelf or table near the nest, (for it was a work 

 of great hazard to approach the nest itself,) the Eagles 

 lost no time in bringing another supply; but when they 



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