THE EAGLE A GLUTTOX. 269 



capture of a depredator, such as tins was known to 

 have been. 



" With the exception of a ' game ' wing, it seems to 

 have quite got over the hard usage it was subjected to 

 before it gave in, and consumes with infinite gusto 

 whatever is thrown to it in the shape of fish, meat, 

 'fur or feathers.' " — Glasrjoiv Daily Mall. 



From an anecdote I heard from a friend of mine latel}" 

 respecting an eagle that was kept by a gentleman at 

 Brentwood, in Essex, it shows that this noble bird is a 

 good guardian at night against robbers. During the 

 winter a number of burglaries had taken place in the 

 town of ■ Brentwood and its neighbourhood ; but the 

 thieves never made any attempt to break into the 

 house of this gentleman, for if the eagle heard any 

 footsteps about the premises during the night, he in- 

 stantly commenced loud screaming, which had the effect 

 of putting the family on their guard, of which there 

 can be little doubt the robbers were aware. 



Perhaps there is no bird more voracious or a greater 

 glutton than the eagle, not even excepting the vulture.* 

 St. John says, in speaking of the wild part of the High- 

 lands, " when I was in Sutherland, I twice fell in with 

 instances of eagles being knocked down, when unable to 

 rise from over-eating. On one occasion a cmrious kind 

 of character, who acted the part of hanger-on to me in 

 my deer-shooting excursions, brought home an eagle, 

 which he had killed with his stick, before it could rise 



* In ascending the rirer Magdalena, in South America, I saw the 

 king of tlie niltures feasting on the entrails of a dead alligator, siu'- 

 roimded by several black vultures, who kept at a respectful distance 

 from his majesty. The plumage of the royal bird was particularly 

 beautifid. The late General Campbell and myself endeavoured to get a 

 shot at him, but could not accomplish this, as he was exceedingly wary. 



