300 THE FOWLER IN IRELAND. 



falling close to him ; as he expressed it, the con- 

 cussion was like " a shot from a gun." It was a 

 hare that an Eagle, tired of carrying, had dropped 

 from the clouds, and which was smashed to pieces 

 by the fall. 



The following interesting notes on the habits 

 of Eagles, as observed in Ireland, have been kindly 

 communicated to me by Mr. Richard G. Symes, of 

 the Geological Survey of Ireland : " The birds I 

 saw in Mayo and Sligo were chiefly Golden Eagles. 

 They built in the cliffs at Aughris Head, between 

 Easky and Ballysadare. I have repeatedly seen 

 them in that locality, especially in the mountains 

 north of Lough Talt, and as I rented a moun- 

 tain there, I had good opportunities of observing 

 them. When surveying the mountains in Sligo 

 on the estate of Colonel Cooper, who strictly pro- 

 tects the Eagles, I saw one hunting, and watched 

 him carefully until I saw him go down. I then 

 went in that direction, and rising from a cliff saw 

 the bird on the moorland, about eighty yards 

 from me. I walked in a circle towards him, and 

 he never perceived me until I got within forty 

 yards, when he went carelessly away. This bird 

 had all its head up above the eyelids covered 

 with blood from the hare just killed. The hare 

 was on its back, legs all stretched out, and the 

 breast opened, and most of the entrails gone, no 

 other part being touched. I have seen a great 

 number of Eagles at various times, and where I 

 chiefly saw them the general impression was that 

 as long as the old birds continue to breed, they 

 drive their young ones far away from them, as it 



