EAGLES. 293 



talons, the hare would give a spurt, and Aquila 

 was left in the lurch. The hare next took a turn 

 downhill. There the Eagle was again at fault. 

 When clutched at, the hare would slant uphill, and 

 the pursuer missed his aim. At length, after a long 

 and, to us, an exciting chase, the frightened animal 

 darted into some furze, and, to our joy, escaped, her 

 tormentor flying sullenly off. 



Now, from this well-enacted scene I should 

 decide that an Eagle had little chance of seizing 

 its prey on the ground save when falling from a 

 height. In this instance the bird, from its low 

 flight, never had full control over its movements. 

 Its steering was bad, its small tail being a weak 

 rudder. Its wings flapped clumsily, and it was 

 often left yards behind ere it could get up speed 

 again after a false stoop. The chase lasted for 

 fully half a mile. Two Eagles might puzzle a hare 

 into their grasp (and I have heard of their doing 

 so), but a single bird, in my opinion, could hardly 

 succeed in actually chasing down a hare. 



An Eagle stooping from a height on a hare in 

 open ground, will seize without fail, especially if 

 the frightened animal sees its danger and, paralyzed 

 by fear, crouches, as is sometimes the case. 



When Eagles follow a hare, dodging it in and out 

 of rough ground, they are often unsuccessful. In 

 such pursuit they continually utter a wild, barking 

 cry. A gentleman of Achill described to me how 

 he saw an Eagle take a hare in a curious way as it 

 was running up a steep slope under a crag. The 

 pursuer being unable to drop directly down as 

 usual, flew high at one side, swept below, then from 



