THE GOLDEN EAGLE 215 



portion of their legs, down to the toes, covered 

 with feathers, whereas the legs of the sea eagle 

 are bare. The spotted eagle is excessively rare. 

 It is smaller than the other two birds, measuring 

 some twenty-six inches. The prevailing colour 

 of its plumage is dark red-brown. 



The golden eagle, which is the largest of the 

 three, measures from thirty-two to thirty-six inches 

 in length. Its colour is somewhat similar to that 

 of the spotted eagle, save in the plumage of its 

 head and neck, which are of a light brown shade. 

 Dixon, in 'Our Rarer Birds ' a work to which I 

 have before referred thus charmingly describes 

 this bird : ' The morning sun glances on the 

 yellow feathers of his head and neck, making 

 them glow like burnished gold, and his dark 

 plumage shows almost black against the blue 

 water.' One can as vividly picture the scene, as 

 if surveyed from the top of some wild sea-cliff, 

 such as are frequent on the Northumbrian and 

 Highland coasts: the bird sailing majestically 

 past, and the morning sunlight gilding the light 

 brown feathers, making them appear golden in- 

 deed ; while, hundreds of feet below, the waves 

 are plashing against the claret-coloured rocks, and 

 the swinging seaweeds rise and fall in the waters 

 of the ebb-tide. 



When a boy, I remember to have seen a speci- 

 men of the golden eagle at the hotel at U lies water ; 

 the poor bird was fettered to prevent its escape. 

 What terrible degradation for the noblest of all 



