254 THE SKOTT-KOJA. 



the bait. At this same spot I caught, in five days, four 

 eagles, all of the same species (Aquila Chrysaetos, Vig.), but 

 varying in size ; the last was the largest and heaviest, and 

 weighed fully thirteen pounds." 



In Scania (and it may be elsewhere in Scandinavia) eagles 

 are shot from a Skott-kojdj or shooting-hut, erected for that 

 special purpose. Though the method may not be new, it is, 

 I believe, unpractised in England, and a short description 

 may therefore be in place. It should be remarked, however, 

 that the plan is only adopted in the winter time, as well 

 for the reason that dire hunger alone allures the eagle to 

 carrion, as that but few of those birds are seen in the 

 southern parts of Sweden in the summer. 



" The spot selected for the purpose," the Count Chr. 

 W. Diicker informs us, " ought to be in an open part of the 

 country ; for when no obstacle intervenes to prevent his sure 

 and sharp eyes from descrying his enemy, the eagle is the 

 more daring. And should there be a large wood, and a lake 

 in the vicinity, it is all the better ; for that bird from choice 

 seeks the strand, and in preference selects for his resting- 

 place some ancient and sturdy tree that is unbending during 

 storms. 



" A hole of some six feet in depth, by fourteen in dia- 

 meter, is dug during dry weather, and a small, low hut 

 erected in the cavity. The roof should rise but little above 

 the ground, and be covered with turf, and the like, it being 

 of the utmost consequence that it have as natural an appear- 

 ance as possible ; for if the eagle has the least suspicion, he 

 will not be easily induced to approach the spot. All the 

 interstices between the stones, or boards, of which the hut is 



* 



constructed, should be filled with moss, to keep out the 



