EAGLE. 



355 



random dasn, on the places where tne lambs are 

 dropped ; and, it' any bfeeder of sheep should be un- 

 wise enough to send his brood ewes to the upper 

 glens and summits near the dwelling of the eagles, he 

 would stand in need of no eagles to kill the greater 

 part both of the young- and the dams, though crows 

 and ravens to clear oit' the carrion might be of service 

 to him. 



Golden eagles are now unknown as resident birds 

 in a wild state in England. In Scotland they are 

 confined to some of the wildest spots, invariably in- 

 land. It is usually said that there are some in the 

 craguy mountains near the lakes of Killarney, in the 

 comity of Kerry, in Ireland ; though, from the 

 accounts which we have heard of their preying in the 

 lai<o (at least occasionally), we should be inclined to 

 believe that they belong to another species which is 

 far more common than the golden eagle, which does 

 haunt near the waters, and occasionally fish ; and the 

 characters of which may be supposed to vary a little, 

 according as the nature of its pastures leads it to be 

 more of a land prcyer, or more aquatic. Golden 

 eagles arc also found in the wild and rocky places 

 among most of the higher mountains on the continent 

 of Europe, though we believe that, in those localities, 

 they are not numerous ; and they do not range far 

 from those rocks in which their eyries are placed. 



Golden eagles are subject to considerable variations 

 of colour, both with age in the individual, and in dif- 

 ferent individuals ; and they are also subject to con- 

 siderable variations in size ; the male bird being 

 smaller than the female, as is usual among birds of 

 prey, and individuals of both sexes varying a good 

 deal in size from each other, even when they are full- 

 grown. These differences of size are understood to 

 arise chiefly from the different supplies of food which 

 they get while they are in the nest, and up to the 

 time when they attain their full size. When young 

 they are exceedingly voracious, as might be supposed 

 of birds who have to elaborate such well sinewed 

 frames and such firm feathers. The parent birds, true 

 to the adaptation of necessity and supply, which runs 

 so conspicuously through all nature, labour most in- 

 dustriously to obtain the requisite quantity ; and where 

 prey is abundant, the larder of an eagle is sometimes 

 so well stored, as to tempt the cupidity of human 

 plunderers. If, however, the requisite quantity is 

 not to be had, even the strength and the enduring 

 perseverance of an eagle is of no avail, because she 

 can neither cultivate that on which she supports her 

 familv, nor entice it within the range of her excur- 

 sions. This is also the time at which the birds are 

 most discursive and most frequently on the wing, and 

 consequently it is the time at which she stands in most 

 danger of being destroyed by man ; therefore the 

 labour of feeding the brood sometimes devolves wholly 

 on the one parent, and this must farther tend to dwarf 

 :/,e of the brood. 



Making allowance for the variations of which we 

 have taken notice, the following are nearly the average 

 external characters of the female golden eagle, which 

 is the more powerful bird, and therefore the typical 

 one, at that age when the colours expressive of youth 

 have disappeared, and those of old age have not come 

 on : Tip of the bill and the claws black ; basal part 

 of the bill bluish ; naked skin or cere at the base of 

 the bill, and toes, which are the only naked parts of 

 the feet, yellow ; irides of the eyes bright orange 

 brown, inclining to yellow ; crown of the head and 



nape of the neck bright orange brown ; sometimes, in 

 birds which have passed a certain age, margined with 

 white, which becomes broader as age increases. The 

 feathers on the neck narrow, pointed, and very dis- 

 tinct, bristling out from each other when the bird is in 

 a state of exilement ; chin and throat rich dark brown, 

 passing gradually into pale reddish brown on the 

 under part, in which it terminates in the vent feathers, 

 and feathers on the tarsi, the latter being slender 

 and very much produced ; upper part deep orange 

 brown, margin rather paler, which gives a bold relief to 

 the individual feathers ; coverts of the wings nearly 

 the same ; secondary quills clouded with various 

 shades of brown ; and primary quills black. Tail 

 purplish brown, barred across with blackish brown, and 

 having a broad line of the same across the extremity. 

 The feathers are all remarkable for the firmness of 

 their texture, and their profusion in the eagle feather, 

 which gives them something of the same appearance 

 as if they were imbricated scales. For some of the 

 particulars of the beak, the claws, the bones, and the 

 adaptation for flight, see the article BIRD. 



In the young birds, the irides are more brown, and 

 the brown on the back and wing coverts is deeper, and 

 the margins of the feathers not so distinct or rich in 

 the tint. There are patches of white on the under 

 part ; the insides of the thighs are white ; the webs 

 of the feathers of the wings have also more or less 

 white on them ; and in the first year's plumage, a 

 large portion of the basal part of the tail leathers is 

 white. In this stage of plumage, the young have 

 often been described as a different species, under the 

 name of the " ring-tailed" eagle, though the ring, 

 which is at first little else than the broad brown bar 

 on the end of the tail, might of itself have sufficed to 

 identify the species. As the bird advances to matu- 

 rity, the white becomes less arid less every year, and 

 in the fourth moult it generally disappears, though 

 there may be a few that retain the white of youth 

 partially on the under part and the base of the tail- 

 feathers until the white of age begins to appear. The 

 length of the mature female is usually about three 

 feet, and the extent of the wings between six and 

 seven feet ; though specimens of much larger dimen- 

 sions have been mentioned. 



As this bird is highly characteristic of some of the 

 wildest scenes in Britain, and withal very ornamental, 

 we shall close our notice of it by an extract from 

 Mudie's Feathered Tribes of the British Islands : 



" From what I have noticed of their habits, I am 

 inclined to believe, that eagles in general choose those 

 rocks, where, with an elevation and wildness which 

 gives them the seclusion that they seem to like in 

 their retreats, they have the command of a double 

 pasture: one, a hill, which they beat with a lower 

 flight when the weather is dusky, and a lower and 

 richer one, which they beat at a greater elevation 

 when the weather is clear ; at all events, I have seen 

 them on the upper moors flying low on dusky days, 

 and again sailing majestically over the lower and 

 richer valleys when the day was fine. 



" The eyrie of those magnificent birds, which is a 

 dwelling as well as a cradle for their broods, is placed 

 on some ledge of the rock, and rarely on a tree, 

 unless where the tangled roots spring from the cliff, 

 and offer a broad space, which can be covered with 

 sticks. The place is, generally, slippery with the 

 refuse of their prey ; and when the young are there, 

 it is usually well stored with provisions, which consist 



