POLICEMEN OF THE AIR 41 



at the head of a river. The nest is unbeautiful, 

 yet so large and strongly built that a man could 

 lie down with safety in it. The lower layer is built 

 of large sticks, often brought from a great distance, 

 and then covered with small twigs, while the bed is 

 formed of soft grasses, wool, goat's hair, feathers, 

 cotton, and various fluffy silks and threads from 

 plants. It is interesting to watch a happy couple 

 of eagles in March gathering the materials for their 

 nest. They whirl and soar in the clouds, rising 

 higher and higher, as though they were giving avia- 

 tion demonstrations. Even after his mate is set- 

 ting, the male continues to give these soaring ex- 

 hibitions. There are usually two eggs in a nest. 

 They are large, round, bluish white, speckled with 

 reddish-brown. 



When the young have hatched, the nest is more 

 like a butcher's shop than anything else Every- 

 thing from lamb-chops to young squab is served to 

 these ravenous downy eaglets. 



There are many varieties of eagles, and their 

 ways and methods of hunting are as numerous as 

 they are diverse. Even Solomon admitted that he 

 could not understand the "ways of an eagle." The 

 male and female often hunt together, flying a short 

 distance apart. They scour over mountain range 



