8 EBNE. 



that of the Golden Eagle, and is rendered by the words 

 kooluk, klook. 



The following curious exploit of one of these birds is related 

 by Mr. Meyer: 'A circumstance illustrative of the great 

 muscular strength which these birds possess, I had the pleasure 

 of witnessing in one confined in the Zoological Gardens in the 

 llegent's Park, in the severe winter of 1835. I was employed 

 in completing a sketch of the bird in question, when I observed 

 him make many endeavours with his beak to break the ice 

 that had frozen upon the tuti of water placed in his cage. 

 Pinding all his efforts to get at the water in this manner 

 were ineffectual, he deliberately mounted the uppermost perch 

 in his cage, then suddenly collecting his strength he rushed 

 down with irresistible force, and striking the ice with his 

 powerful claws, dashed it to atoms, throwing the water around 

 him in all directions. After performing this feat of strength 

 and sagacity, he quietly allayed his thirst and returned to 

 his perch. This is no doubt the mode employed by this 

 species in a wild state, to obtain its aquatic food, from the 

 frozen rivers and inland seas it frequents in various parts of 

 the continent.' 



Prom the vast altitude at which the Erne often flies, it 

 would seem, in common with those of its class, to be able to 

 live in a much more rarefied atmosphere than many other 

 birds. Occasionally a pair of these Eagles are seen fighting 

 in the air, and their evolutions are described as being then 

 most beautiful, as indeed they may easily be imagined to be. 

 The 'point d'appui' is, in common parlance, to get the upper 

 hand, so as, secure from assault, to be able to attack from a 

 vantage ground, thus to call it though in the air, and when 

 one of the two has succeeded in this endeavour, and is 

 launching itself at its adversary, the latter suddenly turns on 

 its back, and is in a moment prepared, with upraised feet 

 and outspread talons, to receive its foe; a 'cheval de frise' not 

 the most desirable to impinge upon. 



In the Hebrides, the great damage done by, and therefore 

 feared from Eagles of this species, makes the people interested 

 in their destruction. Yarious ingenious and yet simple modes 

 'of trapping and destroying them have been devised, some 

 requiring great patience, but all at times successful in the 

 end. Sometimes the farmer builds a temporary hut, in which 

 he lies hid within sight of the carcase of some animal, which 

 he has placed at once both within shot and within view, 



