BIRDS. 51 



about two yards square, and had no hollow in it. The young 

 laglo was of the shape of a goshawk, of ahnost the weight of a 

 goose, rough footed, or feathered down to the foot, having a 

 white ring about the tail." Such is the place where the female 

 eagle deposits her eggs ; which seldom exceed two at a time in 

 the largest species, and not above three in the smallest. It is 

 said that she hatches them.for thirty days : but frequently, even ot 

 this small number of eggs, a part it is addled ; and it is extremely 

 rare to find three eaglets in the same nest. It is asserted, that 

 as soon as the young ones are somewhat grown, the mother kills 

 the most feeble or the most voracious. If this ha])pens, it must 

 proceed only from the necessities of the parent, who is incapabiC 

 of providing for their sujjport ; and is content to sacrifice a part 

 to the welfare of all. 



The plumage of the eaglets is not so strongly marked as \\ hen 

 they come to be adult. They are at first white ; then inclining 

 to yellow; and at last of a light brown. /\ge, hunger, long 

 ca])tivity, and diseases, make them whiter. It is said they live 

 above a hundred years ; and that they at last die, not of old age, 

 but from the beaks turning inward upon the under mandible, and 

 thus preventing their taking any food. They are equally remarka- 

 ble, says, Mr Pennant, for their longevity, and for their power of 

 sustaining a long abstinence from food. One of this species, 

 which has now been nine years in the possession of Mr Owen 

 Holland, of Conway, lived thirty-two years with the gentleman 

 who made him a present of it ; but what its age was when the 

 latter received it from Ireland is unknown. The same bird 

 also furnishes a proof of the truth of the other remark ; having 

 once, through the neglect of servants, endured hunger for twenty 

 one days, without any sustenance whatever. 



Those eagles which are kept tame, are fed with every kind of 

 flesh, whether fresh or corrupting; and when there is a deficiency 

 of that, bread, or other provision, will suffice. It is very dan- 

 gerous approaching them if not quite tame ; and they sometimes 

 send forth a loud piercing lamentable cry, which renders them 

 still more formidable. The eagle drinks but seldom ; and per- 

 haps, when at liberty, not at all, as the blood of its prey serves 

 to (juench its thirst. The eagle's e.vcremcnts are always soft 

 and moist, and tinged with that whitish substance which, as was 

 said before, mixes in hird.s with the mine. 



