AN EAGLE EYE. 25 



" Nay, if thou be that princely eagle's bird, 

 Show thy descent by gazing 'gainst the sun." 



Henry VI. Part III. Act ii. Sc. i. 



Again 



" What peremptory eagle-sighted eye 

 Dares look upon the heaven of her brow, 

 That is not blinded by her majesty ? " 



Love's Labour's Lost, Act iv. Sc. 3. 



But in the same play and scene we are told 

 " A lover's eyes will gaze an eagle blind." 



And in this respect Paris was said to excel : 



" An eagle, madam, 



Hath not so green, so quick, so fair an eye, 

 As Paris hath." 



Romeo and Juliet, Act iii. Sc. 5. 



The supposition that the eye of the eagle is green 

 must be regarded as a poetic license. In all the species 

 of this genus with which we are acquainted, the colour of 

 the iris is either hazel or yellow. But it would be absurd 

 to look for exactness in trifles such as these. 



The power of flight in the eagle is no less surprising 

 than his power of vision. Birds of this kind have been 

 killed which measured seven or eight feet from tip to tip 

 of wing, and were strong enough to carry off hares, lambs, 



E 



