

CHAPTER XI. 



ORNITHOLOGY CONTINUED. THE EAGLE. 



EAGLES are now of great rarity in Britain, the 

 influence of man having almost expelled them 

 from their pristine haunts. It is only in the re- 

 mote solitudes of the Highlands, and in the isles 

 of the north-west coasts, that they occur in some- 

 thing like the proportion which, in the wild state 

 of the eountry,they bore to its other inhabitants. 

 Even there the ingenuity of man has wrought sad 

 havoc among them ; but in the inaccessible parts 

 of the precipitous mountains, and on the awful 

 heights of the maritime cliffs, the eagles of the 

 north still rear their young, and bid defiance to 

 all means of destruction. 



Only two species of eagle have been ascertain- 

 ed to reside in this country, although till of late 

 ornithologists were in the habit of describing 

 four, a circumstance which arose from the dif- 

 ferences in colour which these birds exhibit at 

 different periods of life. These two species are 

 the golden eagle and white- tailed eagle. 



The golden eagle (falco fulvus) called also 

 falco chrymetosj is a beautiful and majestic bird. 



