SOME BIRDS OF THE HEIGHTS 77 



form pellets; the mother feeds herself at the same 

 time ; for the first two months the nest is kept scrupu- 

 lously clean. Gradually there begins a deliberate 

 education of the eaglets in the art of treating the 

 food that is brought to them, and they learn to 

 swallow fur and bones. They begin to play a little, to 

 make short excursions from the nest on to the shelf 

 of rock, to flap their wings. They eat prodigiously, 

 and when they are about eleven weeks old they are 

 ready for their first flight. The nest has been allowed 

 of late to become very dirty, and it is time for a change. 

 But even after flight has been learned the education 

 of the eaglets continues ; they have to be taught how 

 to hunt and how to kill, how to carry and how to skin, 

 and all the alphabet of danger sounds and sights. 

 The nurture and schooling last for five months, and 

 then the youngsters are driven from their home with 

 a firmness that is as kind as it seems to be cruel. In 

 the Highlands the eaglets have to be shielded from 

 rain and snow; in some parts of North America 

 they have to be sheltered from the heat of the sun. 

 It is very interesting to know that each parent bird, 

 itself feverish, will try to make a sunshade of its body, 

 to save the panting prostrate young. Even among 

 eagles we see that the reward of survival comes not 

 only to sharp beak and talons, but to self-sacrificing 

 parental care. 



The Golden Eagle seizes the crouching Grouse by 

 the head and the Hare by the head and haunches ; and 

 the death it brings must be almost instantaneous. 

 We once timed one catching and killing a Thrush; it 

 was all over in less than half a minute. So we cannot 

 say much about the bird's cruelty. 



