ON EAGLES. 85 



plentiful, it is no unfrequent occurrence, when the sports- 

 man starts one, for an eagle to pounce down and carry it 

 off, struggling, with the greatest ease : in this case, he 

 always allows the hare to run a long way out of shot be- 

 fore he strikes, and is apt to miss altogether. When no 

 enemy is near, he generally adopts the more sure way of 

 tiring out his game. 



The colour of the golden-eagle differs very much 

 some are so dark as almost to justify the name of " the 

 black eagle," which they are often called in the High- 

 lands in others, the golden tint is very bright ; and many 

 are of an even muddy-brown. I do not think that the 

 age of the bird has any thing to do with this, as I have 

 seen young and old equally variable. The sure mark of 

 a young one, is the degree of white on the tail : the first 

 year the upper half is pure, which gradually becomes 

 less so by streaks of brown about the third or fourth 

 year no white is to be seen. 



THE SEA-EAGLE. 



I have not had an opportunity of noticing the habits 

 of the sea-eagle, never having been for any time in the 

 neighbourhood of its haunts. All my information re- 

 garding them, is derived from watching one or two tame 

 ones which I met with in Ireland, where they are more 

 numerous than in Scotland, whose mountains are the 

 grand resort of the golden-eagle. The prey of both 

 seems pretty much alike, except that the sea-eagle is 





