THE EAGLE. 101 



straight line to a vast height, and then ceasing to flap its 

 wings, fell headlong to the ground. Struck with so un- 

 accountable an occurrence, the keeper made what haste he 

 could to the spot, and found the Eagle quite dead, and a 

 wounded stoat struggling by its side. On examining the 

 body of the Eagle, he soon discovered the cause of its fall. 

 The stoat when in the air had contrived, according to its 

 usual custom in attacking rabbits, hares, rats, and other small 

 animals, to open an artery or vein, and kept firm hold of the 

 wound it had inflicted. 



Another such case occurred to a gentleman in America ; 

 he, like the gamekeeper, saw an Eagle seize its prey and 

 fly off, and soon afterwards rise spirally to an immense 

 height till nearly out of sight, and then fall to the earth 

 like a stone. As he approached, he saw a weasel running 

 away from the body, and, on further examination, found that 

 the little animal had got under the Eagle's wing, and sucked 

 the blood until the bird fell from exhaustion. Another case 

 is on record, of one of these birds attacking a cat, when a 

 battle actually took place in the air, and lasted some minutes. 

 The cat, aware, it may be supposed, of her danger, clung 

 with her claws to the Eagle, and prevented him from letting 

 her drop. At length, tired of struggling, and impeded by 

 the clinging of the cat, he descended to the earth, where the 

 fight still continued ; and in the end some lookers-on cap- 

 tured both the combatants. A cat, however, if once within 

 the fair grasp of an Eagle on firm ground, has but a poor 

 chance. One, tempted probably by some pieces of raw meat, 

 was seen to make its way through the lattice-work of a large 

 hut, in which a fine Golden Eagle had been long kept. In 

 an instant, the bird was observed to pounce from its perch, 

 and seize poor puss so rudely and suddenly with its claw, 

 that, notwithstanding the vivacious nature of the cat species, 

 she was killed in a moment, without an appearance of strug- 

 gling, or even quivering of her limbs. The entire claw 

 seemed to have been plunged in a moment into the tenderest 

 part of her body. Having secured his victim beyond the 

 power of escape, he remounted his perch to pause and look 



