14 CORRACH-BAH ; OR, 



fallen. If he had either hallooed loud, or thrown straight 

 at the eagle, she would most likely have dashed out, wheel- 

 ing and tumbling an uncertain and difficult shot. Fain 

 would I have secured the eggs, but this was impossible 

 without ropes, which we had neglected to bring. Peter, 

 however, offered to send them to Cladich the next day. 



I was now impatient to secure my prize. We had to 

 descend the sloping ridge, and come round in front, at the 

 base of the chasm. It was, certainly, a lordly fortress 

 fit abode for this marauding Thane of the Wastes. 

 Flanked by bastions and buttresses of massy rock, which 

 guarded the stronghold on either side, and keeping watch 

 upon its rugged eminence, the eagle's sleepless eye could 

 detect the most minute or distant object in the valley 

 beneath. 



We searched the rough ground at the foot of the preci- 

 pice for some time, without discovering the dead eagle. 

 Indeed, we both fancied that she had dropped much further 

 off than was actually the case. At last I discovered the 

 red-brown feathers, like a large tuft of her own heather, 

 close to the foot of the cliff. A finer specimen could not 

 be seen ; the markings were perfect, and the plumage in 

 the finest order. 



The sun had now risen high and clear, the surrounding 

 mountains looked low, warm, and blue. I was now gay 

 as Peter, and, while we tramped over moor and moss, 

 I made him repeat his forest tales. I found that the 

 " extraordinary feet " he had so minutely described, 

 belonged to the night-jar, which bird, however, is rarer 



