THE EAGLE IN ENGLAND 267 



been seen frequently in the Isle of Thanet and in the 

 great flats and marshes near the estuary of the Thames ; 

 and though there were constant notices of their appear- 

 ance in the local papers, owing to the open nature of 

 the country, and the absence of game-preserving and 

 vermin-traps, they have generally escaped destruction. 

 In other parts of Kent, they have been less fortunate. 

 In 1887, one was shot at Minster, and one at Eastwell 

 Park. But a third which was seen was not destroyed, 

 though the dangerous attraction of the game-preserves 

 must naturally tempt the hungry young eagles from 

 the safer but almost foodless marshes 1 by the coast. 

 Most of those killed in the south are young sea-eagles, 

 which seem to follow a general line along the east coast, 

 and sometimes so far adhere to the ancient instincts of 

 their race as to make some stay in the Norfolk warrens 

 and marshes, where they were once so common as 

 to be known as the " fen-eagles." But eagles appear 

 in other parts of England, and it is probable that if 

 they could be protected from those who, unlike 

 shepherds and gamekeepers, have neither lambs nor 

 game to suffer from their ravenous appetite, some 

 might come once more to nest in their ancient breeding- 

 places in the cliffs of the south and west. 



An eagle which was clearly not a passing autumn 

 traveller, but which remained till late in the winter, 

 appeared a few years ago on the Quantock Hills, a 



1 Those marshes near Rochester, where the Cliffe coursing club 

 hold their meetings, and on the Essex coast near Southminster 

 are an exception. They swarm with hares. 



