104 BRITISH BIRDS. 



amount of markings they contain, the well-marked egg certainly being the 

 rule, not the exception. They are from one to three in number; but 

 two is the usual clutch. As a rule, in the nests which contain three eggs 

 one proves addled. They are laid at intervals of a few days ; and as soon as 

 the first is deposited the female bird commences to sit. Eggs of the Golden 

 Eagle may be found representing those of all the other birds of prey ; and 

 almost every type occurs. Typical eggs of this species are dull white in 

 ground-colour, with lilac-grey underlying shell-markings, and rich reddish- 

 brown surface-blotches and spots. One of a pair of British specimens 

 resembles an egg of the Iceland Falcon, the other is boldly blotched and 

 dashed over the entire surface. Others, also British, are uniformly spotted 

 with one or two deeper spots on the large end. A fine egg from Scotland 

 has a dirty white ground-colour, dusted finely with reddish brown, heavily 

 blotched and spotted over the entire surface with deep-brown markings ; 

 while the companion egg from the same nest is white and spotless. One of 

 another pair, also British, resembles fairly typical eggs of the Common 

 Buzzard, while its fellow is a pale and spotless bluish green, similar to the 

 ground-colour of the Sparrow-Hawk's. Two fine clutches from Ireland are 

 remarkably uniform, one of each pair being more thickly clouded with 

 colouring-matter, the other with the spots more remote and the underlying 

 violet dashes larger and more numerous. It is rare to get two eggs from the 

 same nest resembling each other. One is usually more heavily marked 

 than the other ; and these characteristics may be observed in the same 

 eyrie for many years in succession. In size they vary largely, Irish eggs 

 apparently being the smallest. In shape they also vary considerably ; 

 even in the same nest one egg is often much rounder than the other. 

 They vary from 3'1 to 2'7 inch in length, and from 2'5 to 2*2 inch in 

 breadth. The eggs are hatched by the latter end of April or the first 

 week in May ; and the young are covered with down of snowy white- 

 ness. The female Eagle sits very close ; and should she be destroyed, the 

 male bird undertakes the duty of incubation, and hatches and rears the 

 young. 



In some instances the Golden Eagle has been known to build its nest 

 in a tree in Scotland; and on the continent, notably in Germany and 

 Lapland, trees are selected, doubtless owing to the fact that suitable rocks 

 are not to be found for the purpose. The young Eagles are tended by the 

 parents for some little time after they quit the nest ; then they abandon 

 the place of their birth for ever. Before they leave their parents, they 

 may from time to time be seen hunting in company, the old birds appa- 

 rently teaching them to take and kill their own prey, which, at that time 

 of the year, is largely formed of young Grouse, Ptarmigan, and leverets 

 helpless creatures, easily caught and overpowered. 



Many continental ornithologists divide the Golden Eagle into two races 



