THE SEA-EAGLE, 117 



darts forth with the straightness and fleetness of an 

 arrow, and as she glides high in the air, scanning the 

 expanse of miles with her clear and unerring vision, 

 one or two motions of her wings are sufficient to ele- 

 vate her almost above the reach of human eyes, or 

 bring her down close to the surface of the water. 



o 



When her prey appears within her reach, she pauses 

 not an instant, but raising her broad wings upward 

 against the air, and thus taking advantage of the elas- 

 ticity of both, shoots down as if discharged from a bow 

 or an air-gun, makes the cliffs echo to her cherrup, and 

 dashes upon the water with the same thunder and 

 spray as if a lightning-rent fragment had been preci- 

 pitated from the height. For an instant the column 

 of spray conceals her, but she soon ascends bearing the 

 prey in her talons, and brief space elapses before she is 

 lost in the distance. 



In lakes that abound with large fish, if there be lofty 

 trees or rocks near, the eagle is almost sure to be found, 

 more especially if the situation be wild and lonely. 

 Those inlets of the sea to which the name of "lochs" is 

 given, upon the north and west coasts of Scotland, are, 

 from their precipitous shores, their wild and solitary 

 character, and the abundance of fish that they contain, 

 favourite haunts of the eagle ; the same may be said 

 of those on the shores of Donegal, Mayo, and Galway, 

 and especially those in the southwest of Kerry, in Ire- 

 land ; also of the wild and cliffy positions of Orkney and 

 Shetland ; and to the very margin of the polar ice, 

 Indeed, it is found in all the northern parts of both 

 continents, and in Asia as far south as the Caspian 

 Sea. 



