KAPACIOUS BIRDS. 59 



about ten minutes, manifesting great restlessness, 

 not a single instant quiet; when suddenly he 

 seemed to see or hear something and, immediately 

 rising from the rock on which he stood, launched 

 himself into the air, and floated away, as before, 

 uttering the same shrill cry. Looking round, we 

 beheld the cause of his emotion ; he had seen his 

 mate approaching. He rose to meet her; and, 

 after soaring in a circle a few times, they went 

 away, and were soon invisible to the naked eye." 



Perhaps some readers may ask, "Why is this 

 eagle called ' golden ?' J: This is a very natural 

 question, looking at one in confinement, or at a 

 stuffed specimen. But when we read the follow- 

 ing description of the bird, in full plumage, free, 

 and joyous, in its native haunts, we can perceive 

 how it came to be thus called. " It is very diffi- 

 cult," says Mr. Mudie, " to obtain even a toler- 

 able portrait of one. For, in order to get the 

 eagle in perfection in an aviary, we should 

 require to bring the mountain crag and glen along 

 with it. The bird lives, indeed, but its plumage 

 is dull and its spirit still more so. The rich 

 browns, with their peculiar metallic lustre, and 

 the pointed feathers on the neck, shaded off till 

 they arrive at a rich orange at the points, and 

 stand up when the bird is excited, as if they were 

 so many scales margined with gold, are not to be 



