288 



THE GOLDEN EAGLE. 



of the world, being found in the British Islands, and in various parts 

 of Europe, Asia, Africa, and America. The color of this bird is a 

 rich blackish brown on the greater part of the body, the head and 



neck being covered with 

 feathers of a rich golden 

 red, which have earned 

 for the bird its popular 

 name. The legs and 

 sides of the thighs are 

 gray-brown, and the tail 

 is a deep gray, diversified 

 with several regular dark- 

 brown bars. In its imma- 

 ture state the plumage of 

 the Golden Eagle is differ- 

 ently tinged, the whole of 

 the feathers being reddish 

 brown, the legs and sides 

 of the thighs nearly white, 

 ajid the tail white for the 

 first three-quarters of its 

 length. So different an 

 aspect does the immature 

 bird present that it has 

 often been reckoned as 

 a separate species, and 

 named accordingly. It is a truly magnificent bird in point of size, 

 for an adult female measures about three feet six inches in length, 

 and the expanse of her wings is nine feet. The male is less by nearly 

 six inches. 



In England the Golden Eagle has long been extinct, but it is still 

 found in some plenty in the highlands of Scotland and Ireland, where 

 it is observed to frequent certain favorite haunts, and to breed regular- 

 ly in the same spot for a long series of years. The nest is always made 

 upon some elevated spot, generally upon a ledge of rock, and is most 

 inartistically constructed of sticks, which are throw^n apparently at 

 random, and rudely arranged for the purpose of containing the eggs 

 and young. A neighboring ledge of rock is generally reserved for a 

 larder, where the parent Eagles store up the food which they bring from 

 the plains below. 



In hunting for their prey, the Eagle and his mate mutually assist 

 each other. It may here be mentioned that the Eagles are all monog- 

 amous, keeping themselves to a single mate, and living together in 

 perfect harmony through their lives. As the rabbits and hares are 



Eagles. 

 Ring-tail Eafflc. 2. 



Sea Eagle. 



