EAGLES. 295 



since, but escaped with the loss of a foot. He was 

 again captured, this time by the other leg ; the 

 captor bound his prize with a stout length of cord, 

 but the bird managed to escape a second time, the 

 line being secured to the sound ankle. For months 

 he was to be seen soaring about the peaks with 

 this cumbersome appendage, and was pointed out 

 to travellers as a curiosity. A third time the poor 

 bird was taken, and not again making his escape, 

 was held a captive for three years, when he pined 

 and died. Near Killarney, Eagles were by no 

 means uncommon not long ago, and formerly 

 nested in that district, but are now seldom 

 seen. 



Mr. Evatt states that before the days of strych- 

 nine he has seen from five to six Sea Eagles at one 

 time hovering over the Island of Inishbofrm, off 

 the Galway Coast. Mr. Sheridan, of Achill, also 

 blames this deadly poison as a merciless exter- 

 minator of these noble birds. He says, " I was 

 speaking to a keeper here the other day. He told 

 me that one year he poisoned eleven Eagles on the 

 island." 



Eagles nest on the north coast of Mayo, between 

 Downpatrick and Erris Head. During spring, 

 when their young have to be fed, the old birds 

 become fiercely intrusive. In the little mountain 

 hamlet of Bangor, near Belmullet, in 1 88 1, an Eagle 

 bore away, more than once, geese and fowls from 

 the road near the village. In this district they 

 are not unfrequently seen hovering over the hill- 

 side farms, or passing from one hill to another, 

 on the alert for a wandering lamb wherewith to 



