404 FAMILY FALCONID^E; EAGLE. 



sublimity about them. The Eagle does not rise in the air so 

 much for the purpose of pursuing its prey on the wing, as that 

 it may be enabled to take an extensive survey of the country 

 beneath ; for its food does not consist so much of Birds that pass 

 most of their time in flight, as of those that live on or near the 

 ground, and of such Mammalia as it can vanquish. Thus in 

 one eyrie (or Eagle's nest) in Germany, were found the skeletons 

 of three hundred ducks, and forty hares ; but these were in all 

 probability the relics of such prey only, as it could carry to its 

 nest ; the carcases of such animals as sheep, fawns, roe-bucks, 

 &c., which were too large to be carried away entire, being torn 

 up and stripped of their flesh, and the skeletons left behind. 

 The astonishingly acute sight of the Eagle enables it to discern 

 its prey at an immense distance ; and, having perceived it, the 

 Eagle darts down upon it with a swoop or rush, like that of the 

 Falcon, and more terrific as its size and weight are greater. The 

 stroke of the foot is sufficient, not merely to dash the animal 'to 

 the ground, but to dislocate the spine, or fracture the skull, of 

 the smaller Quadrupeds and of those Birds which form the 

 largest portion of their prey. The length of the male Golden 

 Eagle is about three feet, and the expanse of its wings about 

 eight feet. The female is about six inches longer; and the 

 spread of her wings about twelve inches greater. This bird is 

 known to live to a great age ; one that died in confinement at 

 Vienna was 104 years old ; and, if tradition may be believed, 

 the age of the Eagle in its natural haunts often far surpasses this. 

 In this species, as in all the FALCONID^, the young have a plu- 

 mage very distinct from that of either of the parent Birds, 

 whose characters they assume about the third year. Hence it 

 has happened, as in many other instances ( 18), that the 

 young have been described as belonging to a species distinct 

 from the parent. The nest is composed of sticks, twigs, rushes, 

 heath, &c. ; and is generally placed upon the jutting ledge of 

 some inaccessible precipice ; or, in forests, near the summit of a 

 lofty tree. The young are generally two, sometimes three, in 

 number. Notwithstanding the reputation of the Eagle as 

 a Bird of fierce, unreclaimable disposition, it is by no means 



