56 . NATURALIST'S CABINET. 



Robbing the uests. 



their young with the slain carcases of such small 

 animals as come iu their way; and, though they 

 are at all times formidable and ferocious, they 

 are particularly so while nurturing their progeny. 



It is said that an Irish peasant in the county 

 of Kerry, once got a comfortable subsistence for 

 his family, during a summer of great scarcity > 

 out of an eagle's nest, by robbing the eaglets of 

 their food, which was plentifully furnished by the 

 parents He protracted their assiduity beyond 

 the usual time, by clipping the wings, and thus 

 retarding the flight of the young ; and tying 

 them so as to increase their cries, which is always 

 found to increase the dispatch of the parents in 

 supplying their wants. It was a fortunate cir- 

 cumstance, however, that the old ones did not 

 detect their plunderer, as their resentment might, 

 in all probability, have proved fatal. For a 

 countryman, not many years ago, resolved to 

 rob an eagle's nest, which he knew to be built in 

 a small island in the beautiful lake of Killarney. 

 Accordingly he stripped himself for this purpose, 

 and swam over when the old birds were gone; 

 but, in his return, while yet up to the chin in 

 water, the parents coming home, and missing 

 their offspring, quickly fell on the plunderer, 

 and, in spite of all his resistance, dispatched him 

 with their formidable beaks and talons. 



Several instances have been recorded, of chil- 

 dren being seized and carried off by these ra- 

 pacious animals. Pontoppidau relates, that la 



a 



