8 BRITISH BIRDS. 



of eagles dwell on each side, so that three may some- 

 times be seen at the same time in the air ; but the 

 dwellers in the inaccessible cliffs on the north seem to 

 bear rule ; for the south ones do not venture to be in 

 the valley w'hile these are on the wing. The pair, 

 though they drive off their young, and every creature 

 but man, whose haunts they shun, are closely associated 

 together : when one is seen for any length of time, the 

 other is sure not to be far distant ; and the one may 

 often be observed flying low, and beating the bushes, 

 while the other floats high in the air, in order to pounce 

 on the frightened prey. 



The flight of the golden eagle is very majestic and 

 powerful. It seldom feeds on anything it finds dead ; 

 on fish, or carrion : but from its great strength, it preys 

 easily on fawns, lambs, hares, and other game. Two 

 facts are mentioned by Montagu respecting it, which 

 occurred on the Western Highlands of Scotland. He 

 was sporting in the neighbourhood of Ben Lomond, on 

 the summit of the lesser mountains that form its base, 

 when a red grouse was wounded, and flew with difficulty 

 eighty or a hundred paces. An eagle, apparently of 

 this species, perceiving the laborious flight of the 

 wounded bird, descended with rapid wing from the ad- 

 jacent lofty cliffs, before the party, of which Montagu 



