1 8 OUR RARER BIRDS 



surely, and take the Eagle from their glens and their mount- 

 ains for ever. 



The eggs of the Golden Eagle are from one to three in 

 number, two being the usual clutch. They vary much in 

 colour, and generally one of the eggs in a clutch is remarkably 

 plain ; although occasionally both are marked in the same 

 degree. They are dull white in ground colour, sometimes 

 with the faintest possible tinge of green, spotted, blotched, 

 and freckled with rich reddish-brown and pale violet-gray. 

 Some eggs are almost uniform dull white without a marking 

 of any kind, others have the blotches and spots nearly confluent 

 round the larger end. Others are finely vermiculated and 

 sprinkled with minute brown spots over the entire surface ; 

 and occasionally the markings are few but large, irregular, 

 and boldly defined. They also vary considerably in size and 

 shape, even in the same nest. The female Eagle performs 

 most of the task of incubating the eggs, but the male will 

 take his turn upon them. Should the female be trapped, 

 as unfortunately is too often the case, the male will hatch 

 the eggs and rear the young himself. Incubation commences 

 as soon as the first egg is laid. When the young can fly, 

 their parents hunt in company with them for a little time, 

 but they are soon deserted and quit the neighbourhood of 

 their birth for ever. At this time of the year Grouse and 

 leverets form their principal food. 



When nesting on inland cliffs the Golden Eagle invariably 

 selects a place where a good look-out can be obtained, but 

 sometimes the eyrie can be reached with little difficulty. As 

 a rule it is built in parts of the cliff that overhang, so that it 

 is completely inaccessible. Eagles' nests are never built close 

 together one pair of birds appear to take possession of a 

 wide range of country which they regard exclusively as 

 theirs, and from which all outsiders are banished. The 

 saying, "A pair of Eagles to a mountain," might have been 



