THE EAGLE. 243 



a time in the largest species, and not above three in the 

 smallest. It is said that she hatches them for thirty days ; 

 but frequently, even of this small number of eggs, a part is 

 addled : and it is extremely rare to find three eaglets in the 

 same nest. It is asserted, that as soon as the young ones are 

 somewhat grown, the mother kills the most feeble or the most 

 voracious. If this happens, it must proceed only from the 

 necessities of the parent, who is incapable of providing for 

 their support ; and is content to sacrifice a part to the wel- 

 fare of all. 



The plumage of the eaglets is not so strongly marked as 

 when they come to be adult. They are at first white ; then 

 inclining to yellow ; and at last of a light brown. Age, hun- 

 ger, long captivity, and diseases, make them whiter. It is 

 said, they live above a hundred years ; and that they at last 

 die, not of old age, but from the beaks turning inward upon 

 the under mandible, and thus preventing their taking any 

 food. They are equally remarkable, says Mr. Pennant, for 

 their longevity and for their power of sustaining a long ab- 

 stinence from food. 



Those Eagles which are kept tame, are fed with every 

 kind of flesh, whether fresh or corrupting ; and when there 

 is a deficiency of that, bread or any other provision will suf- 

 fice. It is very dangerous approaching them if not quite 

 tame ; and they sometimes send forth a loud, piercing, lament- 

 able cry, which renders them still more formidable. The 

 Eagle drinks but seldom ; and perhaps, when at liberty, not 

 at all, as the blood of its prey serves to quench its thirst 

 The Eagle's excrements are always soft and moist, and 

 tinged with that whitish substance which, as was said before, 

 mixes in birds with the urine. 



Such are the general characteristics and habitudes of the 

 Eagle ; however, in some these habitudes differ, as the Sea- 

 Eagle and the Osprey live chiefly upon fish, and consequently 

 build their nests on the sea shore, and by the sides of rivers 

 on the ground among reeds ; and often lay three or four eggs, 

 rather less than those of a hen, of a white elliptical form. 



