86 GOLDEN-EAGLE AND WHITETAILED-EAGLE 



At about six P.M. the feast took place. Beyond the reach of the 

 youngster she gorged herself upon the entrails, every now and then 

 coming forward to give the eaglet some dainty morsel of liver or 

 flesh, which he greedily plucked from her beak. Having satisfied her 

 own hunger, she then gorged the eaglet to repletion ; and this done, 

 bore away the remains of the carcass, returning speedily to settle 

 down by him for the night. Neither rabbits nor hares had ever been 

 used as food if grouse were available, and in no case during the 

 downy stage was anything but the liver of these rodents given him ; 

 their flesh he was not allowed to eat till big enough to tear it in 

 pieces for himself. Further, young rabbits and leverets were brought 

 to the nest whole ; of the adults the hind-quarters only were brought. 



By June 4th the youngster began his first lessons in feeding 

 himself. His mother first opened the bird with her great beak, then 

 removed and ate the entrails, which the youngster was never allowed 

 to touch. This done, she held the carcass towards him so that he 

 might pick out the liver and kidneys. A week later June llth 

 marked his early attempts to walk. For a second or two he would 

 stand upright, but the weight of his body generally overbalanced him 

 when he tried to make a step ; but in the course of an hour or so he 

 achieved some measure of success, and the day following was marked 

 by a surprisingly rapid improvement. A month had now passed since 

 he left the shell, and the first wing feathers were making their appear- 

 ance. A fortnight later the body was half-clothed in feathers, and the 

 youngster had meanwhile acquired the art of feeding himself, making, 

 while under observation, a hearty meal of a hare's hind-legs. As yet, 

 however, he had not learned the art of standing on his prey and tear- 

 ing it in pieces with his beak. 



A new and surprising addition to his achievements was now 

 remarked he had begun to play. Behaving like a child left to 

 amuse itself, he seized hold of pieces of heather, tossed them up 

 in the air, and assumed odd attitudes. A day or two later his mother 

 suddenly dropped down on to the nest from the skies with a young 



