At Home with Wild Nature 



a pack of hounds of its quarry by seizing and carrying 

 away the hare whilst its pursuers were in full cry. 



Anyone looking at a golden eagle sitting sombrely 

 within the cramped confines of a cage might wonder 

 why the species has been given a regal title. At any 

 rate, that is how the matter struck me until I saw the 

 " king of birds " at home in the ethereal blue, high 

 beyond the rugged peaks of its native mountain range. 

 It was a truly wonderful sight to watch the great bird 

 soaring majestically round and round on outstretched 

 wings, and then swoop suddenly downwards towards its 

 eyrie with such force and speed that the tips of its 

 powerful pinions were bent upwards, and the sky could 

 plainly be seen between the long primary feathers of 

 each wing. 



The nest of this species is generally built on the ledge 

 of a cliff in some secluded glen, but may occasionally 

 be found in a gnarled old tree. It is made of sticks, 

 bits of heather, dead fern fronds, pieces of turf, moss 

 and grass. As suitable sites, such as a roomy ledge 

 overhung by a sheltering rock and more than a gunshot 

 from the ground below, are not too numerous, the 

 bird is very partial to an old haunt. A pair of golden 

 eagles, if left undisturbed, will return year after year 

 to the same place and refurbish the ancient eyrie to such 

 an extent that I have seen one which, if taken away, 

 would have filled the body of an ordinary cart. 



Young eagles enjoy a plentiful supply of food as a 

 rule, although an eyrie I examined a few years ago 

 contained only a mountain hare and part of a rabbit. 



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