46 FORAYS AMONG SALMON AND DEER. 



in his native regions ; and delighted I was to have 

 seen what will soon, I fear, be numbered among " the 

 things that were." Though in general but little more 

 destructive than many of the larger classes of hawks, 

 a war of extermination is being waged against this 

 noble bird. In many instances the reward of a guinea 

 is offered for every eagle brought dead or alive to the 

 keepers ; and this, with the large price which may be 

 obtained from the bird-stuffers for either the bird itself 

 or its eggs, proves a great incentive to all who can 

 climb a cliff or bear a gun ; from which combined 

 causes the number of these birds is fast diminishing. 

 I have said the eagle is not generally more destructive 

 than the larger hawks. This as a rule is true ; but he 

 has greater powers than they, and occasionally he 

 exerts them. In general, perched on some rocky 

 height, or soaring high in the clouds, he beholds with 

 kingly indifference the petty scenes of earth. Capable 

 of passing through the whole length and breadth of 

 the country in a few short hours, the disturbances and 

 changes of any one particular region have no effect 

 upon him. Contented, in general, with making his 

 meal on the mountain-hare or the ptarmigan of his 

 native height, he but seldom disturbs man ; and man, 

 in turn, were it not for the temptation of gold, need 

 seldom disturb him. If he do occasionally vary the 

 monotony of his life of royal solitude by a foray on the 

 sheepfold or elsewhere, might it not be overlooked for 

 the sake of preserving one of the greatest ornaments 

 associated with these mountainous regions ? 



Donald has several stories of the eagle, which he 

 has related to us as we were wandering among the 

 hills together. On one occasion an eagle was seen 

 struggling violently with some other animal on the 

 surface of a pool. Donald's father chanced to be near 



