EAGLES. 127 



by the crow than one lamb killed on the instant and borne 

 off by the eagle, the numbers are everywhere on the decline. 



One, the most powerful and the model of the race, dwells 

 only in the wilds, and never visits the inhabited country, 

 except it borders on those. It is very rare ; and they who 

 would enjoy the luxury of seeing it dashing away in pure 

 nature (and it is a luxury) must pay the price in a very 

 fatiguing, but at the same time a health-inspiring journey. 

 That is the mountaineer; and like all mountaineers, it quits 

 not its abode, but remains in the same haunt for life, and a 

 long life it is, and it resists all invasion, even by its own 

 species. 



Another, which is rather smaller, not so powerful, and 

 more generally distributed and more frequently seen, is either 

 for the land or water, hunting or fishing as the one or the 

 other promises to be most successful ; not inhabiting so wild 

 places, nor quite so chary in its food as the former, but in the 

 absence of the mountain eagle, withal a powerful and even a 

 splendid bird. 



The third more affects the waters, the banks of large rivers 

 and lakes, and the shores of the sea, especially when they are 

 wild and rocky, and distant from human habitations. It is 

 considerably smaller than either of the others, but it is at the 

 same time a bird of great power, and one of which the habits 

 and action are well worth studying. 



The tomia, or cutting edges of the beaks of eagles, form 

 a sort of waving line, so that they can hold firmly; but they 

 have not the prominent tooth which distinguishes the falcons 

 and renders their beak so very efficient an instrument. The 

 feet and claws are, on the other hand, more powerful in the 

 eagles, and are, generally speaking, the only instruments they 

 use in the capture and killing of their prey, the beak not 

 being brought into action until the prey has ceased to throb 

 under the terrible clutch of the talons. The following figures 



