EAGLES AND DEER 373 



the corrie, the younger bird flying upside down, his 

 talons being firmly fixed in the old bird, which held 

 tightly by the latter, and thus they crossed over the 

 corrie into a small burn about half a mile off, and 

 disappeared from our view. I much fear that the 

 younger bird must have succumbed after such merciless 

 treatment. Evidently he was an interloper in the 

 district, and had followed the deer and hares from the 

 higher ground when the snow came, and had gone too 

 close to the eyrie of the older bird, which has been 

 left untouched for years in Killilan. 



It is well known that both eagles and falcons drive 

 their young away to find eyries for themselves in other 

 forests, and I have often seen desperate fights on such 

 occasions ; but I much doubt if anyone has ever before 

 or since witnessed a fight between two eagles, where 

 one was flying upside down by reason of their being so 

 firmly locked together. 



In some forests, where the rocks are steep and the 

 eagles thereby get the chance, I have seen them attack 

 deer, but I never saw them succeed in getting a deer 

 over a rock. On one occasion an eagle attacked a 

 hind with a calf close to a very steep rock, but the old 

 hind was too wary, for she saw the eagle coming and 

 called the calf to her, and the latter got close under 

 her as she ran back from the rock. Eagles will not 

 attack a deer save for sport, or unless they are very 

 hard pressed for food where hares are scarce. Now 

 and again I have seen them hunt everything — black- 

 game, grouse, and deer into the woods, but it was 

 evidently only for amusement, for they have not the 

 power of stooping rapidly like falcons. They fly at a 

 hare more like the manner in which a hen harrier 



