IRISH GOLDEN EAGLES 189 



the turf adjoining the base of the bulky nest, the 

 bottom foundations of which are bleached with age, 

 has been utterly destroyed by the droppings of past 

 generations of eaglets. I have seen this solitary 

 Eagle settle on this " pad " and sadly survey his 

 ancient citadel. Poor fellow ! What a mockery it 

 must all appear to him. Surely it is sufficient proof 

 how scarce Golden Eagles have become in Ireland 

 that this bird cannot procure a mateP It is 

 interesting to note that a Golden Eagle's eyrie on 

 a sea-cliff is an occurrence of decided rarity, since 

 the species normally loves the rocky escarpment 

 forming part of an inland mountain breast, or the 

 equally craggy, towering side of some lonely glen. 

 This lone Eagle is remarkably confiding. I 

 have often been within appreciable distance of 

 him; several times within the simplest of shots. 

 One afternoon, for instance, while loitering along 

 this bastion of Western Europe I noticed him 

 standing in solitary state, some four hundred yards 

 distant, on a nose-shaped rock, the highest point 

 of a gigantic but broken-up cliff. This latter fact 

 enabled me to bring off a successful stalk; indeed 

 I won to within a few yards of him, when, 

 crouched behind an opportune boulder, 1 watched 

 him carefully for fully ten minutes. This gave me 

 every facility for noting his plumage, which 

 perhaps from extreme longevity w r as of a peculiar 

 rusty shade, and not dark brown, as is the case 

 with the majority of Golden Eagles. The sun, 



