268 LTJTT.ER XLIII. 



while the old ones were absent. Having robbed the 

 nest of its young, he was preparing to swim back 

 with the eaglets tied in a siring, but when he was up 

 to his chin in the water, the old eagles returned, fell 

 upon the plunderer, and in spite of his resistance, ne- 

 ver desisted till they dispatched him with their beaks 

 and their claws. 



The eagle is certainly at all times a formidable 

 neighbour, but particularly when bringing up its 

 young. It is then that both the male and the female 

 exert all their force and industry for the supply of their 

 offspring* Their nest is commonly built in the most 

 inaccessible cliff of the rock, and often shielded from 

 the weather by some projecting crag which overhangs 

 it. 



This noble bird 'is found in various parts of Europe ; 

 but it abounds chiefly in the warmer regions. It com- 

 monly breeds in the mountainous parts of Ireland. It 

 lays three, and sometimes four eggs, of which it sel- 

 dom happens that more than two are prolific. Mr. 

 Pennant says, that there are instances, though rare, 

 of their having bred in Snowden hills, in Wales. Mr. 

 Wallis, in his Natural History of Northumberland, 

 says, " It formerly had its aerie in the highest and 

 steepest parts of Cheviot/' In the month of January, 

 17-35, a very large eagle was shot, near \Vark\vorth, 

 which measured from point to point of its wings ele- 

 ven feet and a quarter. 



This formidable tribe of birds admits of many va- 

 rieties. In the rear of that which is here described, fol- 

 low the ring-tailed eagle, the common eagle, the bald 

 eagle, the white eagle, the rough-footed eagle, the 

 black eagie, the osprcy, the sea eagle, and the crown- 

 ed eagle. These, and divers others, form difl'erent 

 ku.!e< in this ferocious family ; but a particular de- 

 sciiption of them is unnecessary, as they have all th<" 

 same general form, the same rapacity, and the same 

 habits, and are alt remarked for their longevity. The 

 .".iL^ic has often b-cn known to live a hundred years; 

 it is said that jt docs not even then die of old age or 

 dftiility, but from iho beak's turning inward on the 





