16 THE GOLDEN EAGLE. 



heritage, that these royal birds take up their 

 abode. Here they build their nest, which is to last 

 through the whole of a life almost patriarchal in 

 its length, as they are known to live above a 

 century. This nest, which is called an eyrie, 

 is usually built in a cleft of the rock. It is formed 

 of sticks, five or six feet in length, crossed by 

 pliant branches, and then covered with rushes 

 and weeds, and it has no other shelter than that 

 which is afforded it by a projection of the rock, 

 or an overhanging crag. Here the female deposits 

 every year two or three eggs; but it is said that 

 rarely more than one of them is hatched. The 

 quantity of food required by the young bird 

 must be very great; and it has been imagined 

 that, weary of the labour of procuring it, the 

 'female soon chases the young eaglet from the 

 nest, and leaves it to provide for itself. This, 

 later naturalists have decided to be a false state- 

 ment. It is well known, that when a moun- 

 taineer has discovered an eagle's nest, he has no 

 difficulty in securing a good supply of provisions 

 for himself for a considerable time, by robbing 

 the young birds of part of their supply, at a time 

 when the parents are absent from the nest. A 

 poor man in the county of Kerry, some years 

 ago, obtained food in abundance for his family 

 for a whole year, by thus seizing on a share of 



