EAGLE. 



351 



volume which we close to our own view by absurdi- 

 ties of the same class with those of which we have 

 been endeavouring 1 to point out the impropriety and 

 mischievous effects. 



The great distinction between the eagles and all 

 other birds of prey, overlooking- the differences in 

 particular parts of their structure, is the possession of 

 superior strength, together with superior power of 

 endurance. Some of the vultures are probably birds 

 of larger dimensions than the most formidable of the 

 eagles ; and no eagle can be compared with the 

 superior falcons, either in elegance of form or in 

 power of wing ; but there is a degree of strength for 

 short efforts, about the eagles, which places them in 

 nearly the same relation to the falcons as the lion 

 and the tiger stand in to those predatory mammalia 

 which run down their game by swiftness of foot. 

 There is nothing in the action of an eagle at all com- 

 parable to the beautiful gliding of the kite, the rapid 

 forward llight of the peregrine, or the lightning rush 

 of the jer-falcon. But still the eagle in the air is a 

 splendid bird, and one knows hardly whether most to 

 admire, the terrible stoop of those species which de- 

 scend from the top of the sky in the open wastes, to 

 strike their prey upon the ground, or of those which 

 descend upon the surface of the waters for the cap- 

 ture of Hsh. In all the species, the rush of the eagle 

 is of comparatively short duration, for though some 

 of them are described as giving chase on the wing, 

 and striking their prey in the air, yet these are habits 

 of falcons and hawks rather than of eagles. Eagles 

 are, however, found in so many and such different 

 localities in wild nature, that there are great differ- 

 ences of habit in those which are found in different 

 places. The mountaineer, which inhabits the pinna- 

 cles of the rocks, nestles on the most inaccessible 

 ledges, beats the upper valleys and moors for prey 

 preys only or chiefly on living animals, and strikes 

 them on the ground, aided by an impetus .obtained 

 by a rush of many fathoms through the sky, in which 

 the specific gravity of the bird aids the descent of the 

 wing, ought perhaps to be considered as the typica' 

 eagle. There are, however, some of the most power- 

 ful ones which inhabit the forests of the warmer re- 

 gions, or rather perhaps the margins of those forests 

 and they unite in so far the habits both of the vulture 

 and the hawk with those of the species which we 

 are disposed to regard as the typical eagle. It is 

 probable, also, that when the hawking action of giving 

 chase on the wing, and the vulture propensity of eat 

 ing carrion, are joined with the more single predatory 

 habit of the typical species, there is also joined less 

 or more of the disposition to feed upon fish. It i 

 probable, also, that the typical eagle depends mon 

 upon the eye in finding her prey than is the casi 

 with any of those of mixed habit ; and it is worthy o 

 remark that this most typical of the race is confiner 

 to the wildest and the barest pastures, the mor 

 lofty mountains in Scotland, perhaps some spots ii 

 Ireland, the rocky elevations which mark the forest 

 of Scandinavia, and the elevated wild and bleak dis- 

 tricts of the Alps and the Pyrenees. On the othe 

 hand, those species which are found on the margin 

 of the tropical forests, however powerful they ma) 

 be, and however active in the finding of their prey 

 have an apparent softness about them, even when i 

 a state of the most powerful excitement, which thi 

 eagle of the mountain rocks never displays, eve 

 though in a state of repose. Nor is there any doub 



lat though some of these are of greater size and armed 

 ith larger beaks and talons, there is no eagle of the 

 nixed character which would be able to contend in 

 ngle contact with the golden eagle of the wild moun- 

 ains of Europe. It is not in the size of the animal, 

 r the form of the instrument, that the superior power 

 esides, it is in the spirit and the muscular energy ; 

 nd when these are great, they tell in the whole cha- 

 acter and expression, and in the case of birds, even 

 n the very plumage. Any one who has an oppor- 

 unity, and this opportunity may be had in the gar- 

 lens of the London Zoological Society, of comparing 

 ogether, the harpy eagle of central America and the 

 golden eaglaof Europe, will have no difficulty in per- 

 ceiving that, though the former is the larger bird, and 

 Iso has the beak and the claws most formidable, yet 

 hat there is a fire in the eye, and a firmness in the 

 vhole structure and air of the latter, which leaves not 

 he smallest doubt as to which would be the victor.in 

 .he event of each bringing the whole of its strength 

 against the other upon equal terms. Nor is it difti- 

 ult, from the different modes in which the two must 

 ind their food, to see that this is a wise adaptation in 

 uiture. The mountain eagle has to contend with all 

 he violence of the mountain storm, while she sits 

 upon the pinnacle of the rock, beaten by the wind and 

 >elted by the snow. Her common flight in ranging 

 or her prey is not rapid or performed with effort ; 

 ind from the loftiness of her flight, the keenness of 

 icr eye, and the few objects which there are to inter- 

 cept her vision, her floating is neither long nor labo- 

 ious. When her effort comes, however, it is an 

 ;xtreme one ; and, therefore, whether she has to 

 maintain her position against the violence of the ele- 

 ments, or descend upon her victim with that rapidity 

 which makes the viewless air appear to shiver for 

 fathoms in the rear of her, her muscular exertions 

 must be greater than even that which is required for 

 the spring of the lion or the tiger. The other eagle, 

 from the more rich and more sheltered pasture, from 

 having to beat about where trees break her horizon, 

 to catch the larger birds on the wing, and to sei/e 

 monkeys and other tree animals while they are on the 

 branches, requires a frame, not so knit and wound up 

 for the single effort, but one which is more flexible, 

 and can more readily accommodate itself to the varied 

 circumstances of a chequered scene. 



The characters of the eagle are : The bill very 

 strong, straight in the basal part, and curved only to- 

 ward'the point ; the feet very strong, supplied with 

 powerful muscles, and in the mountain eagles always 

 feathered on the tarsi. The toes very stout; and the 

 claws powerful and very much arched. The particu- 

 lar form of the foot and toe varies a good deal with 

 the habits of the birds. If the habit is to kill the prey 

 only or chiefly on the ground, the outer toe is not 

 reversible, though, even in them, it turns outwards 

 until it is at right angles to the axis of the body. In 

 these the under sides'of the claws are grooved, so as to 

 form two trenchant or cutting edges upon each claw, 

 which tear or lacerate while the strong muscles are 

 drawing the toes together with great force. When 

 the foot is of this stiucture, it is the sole instrument 

 employed in killing the prey ; and the beak is reserved 

 for rending it after it has been killed. If, on the other 

 hand, the habit is chiefly or exclusively a fishing one, 

 the outer toe is reversible, and the claws want the 

 groove, and are rounded on the under sides. If, again, 

 some of the disposition of the hawk is mingled, tne 



