6 FALCONID^K. 



thence she seeketh the prey, and her eyes behold afar off. 

 Her young ones also suck up blood : and where the slain 

 are, there is she." "With reference to the last paragraph, 

 it may be observed that Eagles do not confine themselves 

 to living prey, having often been seen feeding on car- 

 rion ; and it is well known in the East that they follow 

 armies for the purpose of feasting on dead horses, keeping 

 the Vultures at a respectful distance until they are them- 

 selves satisfied. 



The fable of the Eagle soaring to a great height in ordei 

 to enjoy a gaze at the sun in his unclouded brilliancy, is 

 founded probably on a belief of the ancients, thus stated 

 by the naturalist Pliny: "Before its young are as yet 

 fledged, the Eagle compels them to gaze at the rays of 

 the sun, and if it observes one to wink or show a watery 

 eye casts it from the nest as a degenerate offspring ; if x on 

 the contrary, it preserves a steady gaze, it is saved from 

 this hard fate, and brought up." 



"The Golden Eagle," says Macgillivray, "seems to 

 prefer live prey to carrion, and easily secures Grouse, in 

 searching for which it flies low on the moors, sailing and 

 wheeling at intervals. Hares, roes, and even red deer, it 

 also attacks, but it does not haunt the shores for fish so 

 much as the Sea Eagle does. There seems very little 

 probability that Eagles have the sense of smell very acute, 

 but that their vision is so is evident. I am not, however, 

 inclined to think that they perceive objects from the vast 

 height to which they sometimes soar, because I never saw 

 one descend from such an elevation in a manner indicating 

 that it had observed a carcase or other eatable object ; 

 whereas, on the other hand, I have very frequently seen 

 them flying along the sides of the hills, at a small height, 

 obviously in search of food, in a manner somewhat resem- 

 bling that of the Sparrow-hawk, but with much less 

 rapidity." 



The Golden Eagle is said to inhabit the whole circum- 



