14 THE EAGLE 



carcase, nor will he partake of any animal which 

 he has not himself taken in the chase; in this 

 respect, as in many others, resembling the lion, 

 which is said to turn with disgust from a lifeless 

 body. Among the eagles, and all other birds of 

 prey, the female is larger than the male, and 

 appears to possess greater courage and skill in 

 seizing the prey. The male and female are 

 generally seen near each other, as if pursuing 

 the chase in company, except when the female is 

 detained in her nest by her eggs or her little 

 ones. This bird can support life for a very 

 long period without food, which is accounted 

 for by the capacity of his crop to receive an 

 immense quantity more than the bird can di- 

 gest at the time, and thus he carries about a 

 supply for the wants of many days. Buffon 

 says he knew one of these birds, in a state 

 of captivity, live forty days without food, and 

 that it showed no symptoms of exhaustion till 

 within the last eight days, at the end of which it 

 was killed. This was evidently one of those 

 inhuman experiments, which men are sometimes 

 tempted to make, in the eagerness of their pur- 

 suit after scientific knowledge deeds of cruelty 

 which no discoveries can justify. The eagle 

 can quench his thirst in the blood of his victims, 

 and therefore can pass many days without water. 



