294 THE FOWLER IN IRELAND. 



the impetus gained by the fall, slanted up the hill- 

 side with stiffly-extended wings, and so snatched 

 the hare off the ground as he skimmed past and 

 upwards. 



O'Flaherty, in his "West Connaught," relates 

 how the Eagles, by blinding the deer with their 

 claws and beating them with their wings, drove 

 them over cliffs, that when killed by the fall 

 they might the more readily enjoy a feast on the 

 carcase. This is curiously confirmed by an old 

 Achill man, now living, who says : " I rose early 

 one fine morning to see if my horses were all safe ; 

 a mare, her foal, and a two-year-old. I found them 

 near the cliffs over the sea. As I came near, in the 

 early dawn, I saw three Eagles darting at them 

 and fastening their claws into the backs first of one 

 then of the other, and driving them towards the 

 precipice. As the animals sheered off from the 

 edge, the Eagles would keep on their landward side 

 and frighten them again to the cliff. I ran, as for 

 my life, but my dog was before me, barking loudly. 

 When the dog got near the horses, and the birds 

 saw me running up, they flew away. The horses 

 were wild with fear, and trembling. Over this cliff, 

 on to the sands below, the villagers often threw 

 down dead animals, such as sheep and horses ; on 

 these the Eagles were known to feed, and my horses 

 did they wish to cast down." 



Eagles, alas, are now rare in the west of Kerry ; 

 on the vast peninsular of mountain that lies between 

 Tralee Bay and Castlemaine Harbour, and where 

 they formerly abounded, very few now exist. A 

 fine one was trapped in that district a few years 



