268 EAGLES ON AN ENGLISH LAKE 



enclosed by a wall nine miles round. The lake is at 

 the edge of this park, about a mile from the sea ; but 

 the intervening marshes are strictly preserved, and the 

 owner never allows the eagles to be shot, in spite of 

 their raids on his game and wild- fowl. The park and 

 the lake itself supply the sea eagles with game in such 

 abundance that they are not tempted to roam. 



The main food-supply of the birds is derived from 

 the hares which swarm in this enclosed park. The 

 area is large enough for a good estate in itself, and is 

 heavily stocked with all kinds of game. It is said to 

 be quite dangerous to ride a bicycle by night through 

 the park, as the hares will hop up when they see the 

 light, and sit on the roads, and have caused more than 

 one bad spill by being run over. At daybreak the 

 eagle leaves the tree in which he roosts near the lake, 

 and rushes down on some unlucky hare. One was 

 disturbed just after he had caught his hare. It was 

 already dead, with its eyes picked out. The eagles 

 usually eat the head first, then the body, bones and all, 

 and leave nothing but the skin. They do attack other 

 game, as one was seen in full chase after a partridge. 

 But the hares form the mainstay of their food-supply. 

 This is supplemented by two contributions from the 

 lake itself. For many years this piece of water has 

 been kept as a sanctuary, though shooting on a large 

 scale goes on in the adjacent covers in the park. From 



