THE GOLDEN EAGLE. 117 



the cause of his emotion ; he had seen his mate ap- 

 proaching. He rose to meet her, and after soaring 

 in a circle a few times, they went away, and were soon 

 invisible to the naked eye. 



This was the large Golden Eagle, a species occa- 

 sionally found . in England and Scotland, but more 

 frequently in Ireland; where, notwithstanding its 

 wild and apparently untameable character, one was 

 taken even after it had attained maturity. It soon 

 became domesticated, and firmly attached to the 

 place, where it continued till it died, though per- 

 fectly at liberty, it never having been chained, or 

 put under any restraint. Its wings had, indeed, 

 been cut when first brought thither, but they 

 were allowed to grow again, and the noble bird, 

 on recovering the use of them, would repeatedly 

 soar away, and absent itself for a fortnight or three 

 weeks. It became very much attached to those 

 who were in the habit of feeding or caressing it. 

 On its first arrival it had been placed in a garden, 

 situated on a slope overhanging a lake; a house 

 or shed had also been built for its accommodation; 

 but it generally preferred a perch of its own finding 

 out, in the branch of a large apple-tree, which grew 

 in nearly a horizontal position from the stem. Its 

 food was chiefly crows, which were shot for it; 

 sometimes, however, it attempted to procure them 

 for itself, but never successfully, as their agility, in 

 turning short and rapidly, enabled them to elude its 

 superior strength of wing: latterly, therefore, it 

 contented itself with eyeing them wistfully as they 

 flew or perched securely over its head. It was never 

 suspected of committing any havoc among the sheep 



