70 THE GOLDEN EAGLE. 



nest is usually indeed a scene of blood, as the prey, if 

 not killed by the blow of the wing or the clutch of the 

 talons, is carried to the ledge that contains the nest, 

 and despatched there. 



Of the boldness of the eagles at that time, many 

 stories are told ; and they are so universal, that there 

 must be some foundation for them. When the old ones 

 are at the nest, the boldest fowler dares not approach 

 it, as one flap of the wing will strike a man dead to the 

 ground. Even when they are absent, an attack on 

 their brood is far from safe, as they see so far, and 

 can come so rapidly. An Irish peasant had discovered 

 the eyrie of a pair of eagles on one of the islands in 

 the Lake of Killarney $ and watching the absence of the 

 parents, he swam to the island, climbed the rocks, made 

 prize of the eaglets, and dashing into the lake, made 

 for the shore ; but before he had reached it, and while 

 only his head was above water, the eagles came, killed 

 him on the spot, and bore off their rescued brood in 

 triumph. In the northern islands, where cormorants, 

 gulls, and other aquatic birds breed in immense num- 

 bers, the eagles commit terrible devastation among the 

 young ; though in these places the sea eagle is often 

 mistaken for the golden eagle. They also attack full- 

 grown deer, and even foxes, wolves, and bears ; they 

 generally fasten on the heads of the larger quadrupeds, 

 tear out their eyes, and then beat them to death with 

 their wings. 



There are accounts of their carrying off infants in 

 Britain ; and in places farther to the north, they have 

 carried off children a little more advanced. Instances 

 of this are mentioned in Iceland, in the Faroe islands, 



