E EAGLE. 



767 



E 



E ; the second vowel and the fifth letter of the Eng- 

 lish alphabet. The sound e (as in bench, or long- as 

 in the French pcre) in the early stages of ail lan- 

 guages, often passes into i (as in liver, or the Italian 

 '), into a (as in father), and into o. But of the lan- 

 guages of modern civilized nations, since their ortho- 

 graphy has been settled, the English gives to the 

 letter e the most different sounds ; as that of the Ger- 

 man short e, for instance, in bet ; that of the German 

 i, as in revere, he, me ; that of the German a, in 

 clerk (pronounced dark), sergeant (pronounced sar- 

 geant ; at least, this mode of pronouncing exists in 

 England) ; that of u, as in voter, murder. We find 

 similar sounds of e in different dialects of Germany ; 

 for instance, in the dialect of Silesia, where spoken 

 most broadly, Seele (soul) is pronounced as an Eng- 

 lishman would pronounce it, whilst the true German 

 pronunciation of the word is as if it were written 

 Sa-le. In Latin we also find here for heri, Vergil'ms, 

 for Virgilius, Deana for Diana ; and, in old Italian, 

 desiderio and disiderio, peggiore and piggiore. In 

 French, e is pronounced in three different ways the 

 e ouvert, e ferine and e muet all three in the word 

 fermete. In German there are four different ways of 

 pronouncing the letter e ; I . merely as an aspiration, 

 or very short indeed, as in hatle or hoffen 2, short, 

 like the English e in bet, met, as in recht, rennen ; 3. 

 long, like the English a in fate, as in reden, predi- 

 . gen ; and like the French e ouvert, or like the Ger- 

 man a or ee, as in Elend, although little distinction 

 is generally made between the two latter. Some 

 provinces generally pronounce both like the latter ; 

 others pronounce them like the former, or like a in 

 fate. The letter e may be called an intruder into the 

 German language, because it has taken the place 

 formerly occupied by full and melodious vowels, and 

 it occurs too often. The Greeks, it is well known, 

 had two characters t, or epsilon, and , or eta, the 

 latter corresponding to the French e ouvert, if it was 

 not pronounced, as in modern Greek, like the Italian 

 i. E, in the Greek numeration signified five. Many 

 dictionaries state that E was used oy the ancients for 

 250, according to the verse 



E quoque ducentos et quinquaginta tenebit ; 

 but this was only in late and barbarous times. E, as 

 an abbreviation, stands, in English, for east. On an- 

 cient medals, it stands for the names of cities which 

 begin with this letter ; for exercittts, effigies, edictum, 

 or for trei, the year, hu/hgia, liberty, &c. The letter 

 E, on modern French coins, signifies the mint of 

 Tours ; on Prussian, the mint of Konigsberg ; on Aus- 

 trian that of Karlsburg. See Abbreviations. 



EAGLE ; a coin. See Coins. 



EAGLE (falco). This well known bird belongs 

 to the genus falco, which has been much subdivided 

 by modern ornithologists. In the present article, 

 those species only will be noticed which belong to 

 the subgenera of aquila and haliatus. The eagle 

 lias been elevated, by the popular voice, to the rank 

 of the noblest and most courageous of the rapacious 

 birds. Its natural fierceness is so great, that it has 

 seldom been employed for the purposes of the chase, 

 as it never can be rendered sufficiently tractable to 

 obey its keeper. The eagle soars to a greater height 



than any other bird, from which circumstance the 

 ancients considered it as a messenger of Jove, " Ful- 

 vam aquttam Jovis nuntiam." Its sense of sight is 

 exquisite. It lives for a great length of time, even 

 in the captive state. Mr Pennant mentions one in 

 the possession of a gentleman, which he had kept 

 for nine years, and the person from whom he had 

 received it, thirty-two. The principal species are, 



1. The falco imperialis (Bechst), or imperial eagle. 

 This species is the'largest known. It is distinguished 

 by a large white spot on the scapulars, transverse 

 nostrils, black tail, marked with gray on its superior 

 portion. The female is fawn-coloured, with brown 

 spots. It is stouter than the common eagle. It in- 

 habits the high mountains of the middle of Europe ; 

 and to this species may be referred all the accounts 

 of the ancients respecting the strength, courage, and 

 magnanimity of these birds. 



2. Falco chrysatos (golden eagle). This fine 

 bird measures, from the point of the bill to the ex- 

 tremity of the toes, upwards of three feet, and, from 

 tip to tip, above six, weighing from twelve to 

 eighteen pounds. The male is smaller than the 

 female. The bill is of a deep blue colour, the cere 

 yellow, the eyes are large, deep sunk, and covered 

 by a projecting brow ; the iris is of a fine bright 

 yellow, and sparkles with uncommon lustre. The 

 general colour is a deep brown mixed with tawny 

 on the head and neck ; the quills are chocolate, with 

 white shafts; the tail is black, spotted with ash 

 colour, the legs are yellow, the toes very scaly, and 

 the claws remarkably large. It occurs in various 

 parts of Europe and of North America ; in the 

 latter, however, it is rare. 



3. F. fulvus (common or ring-tailed eagle) is said to 

 be the young of this bird. The same nests are 

 made use of by eagles for a succession of years. 

 These nests are, in tact, of great bulk, and of such 

 durable materials as to be almost indestructible. 

 They are built in dry and inaccessible situations, of 

 large twigs, lined with several layers of reeds or 

 brambles; of a flat form, several feet in breadth, 

 and of such strength as to support not only the 

 eagle and her young, but likewise the large quantity 

 of food she provides for them. This is so great, 

 that it is related by Smith, in his history of Kerry, 

 that a peasant procured a comfortable subsistence for 

 his family, during a summer of famine, by robbing 

 the eaglets of the food provided for them by the old 

 birds. In the middle of this aerie, the female depo- 

 sits two or three eggs, and sits upon them about 

 thirty days. The plumage of the eagles is not as 

 dark as it becomes when they arrive at the adult 

 state ; but age, famine, and captivity gradually 

 diminish their natural colours, and give them a 

 faded appearance. 



4. White-tailed eagle (F. Albicilla). This bird is 

 inferior in size to the golden eagle. It inhabits fat- 

 north, and is extremely ferocious ; feeds principally 

 upon fish, and usually lays two or three eggs, build- 

 ing its nest upon lofty trees. It is distinguished by 

 its black bill and claws, and white tail. 



5. Great eagle of Guiana (F. harpyia). This 

 bird belongs to the sub-genus harpyia of Cuvier, and 

 is furnished with a terrible beak and claws. Its 



