THE GOLDEN EAGLE 335 



Somerville, in "Field Sports," gives some fine lines, 

 descriptive of this bird, untamed though we call it> as 

 one of sport : 



" In earlier times, monarchs of Eastern race 

 In their full blaze of pride a story tells 

 Trained up th' imperial eagle, sacred bird. 

 Hooded, with jingling bells, she, perched on high, 

 Not, as when erst on golden wings she led 

 The Roman legions o'er the conquered globe, 

 Mankind her quarry, but a docile slave, 

 Tamed to the lure and careful to attend 

 Her master's voice." 



This noble bird measures from 32 to 36 inches and the 

 female is larger than the male. In reality he is about 

 the size ot a goose but his mighty wings and the breadth 

 of tail make him 6eem far larger. The general colour 

 is dark brown, tawny about the head and nape, hence 

 his name golden. The tail has a greyish bar below, is 

 mottled with dark grey in the adults, but the basal half 

 is white in the young. The legs are feathered in front 

 to the toes, thighs dark brown, toes yellow, claws 

 hooked and sharp. The beak is curved from the cere. 

 The brown eye is keen and strong as befits a bird who 

 sights his quarry from afar. The nest, or eyrie, which 

 is placed on a crag in a mountainous district, but often 

 in a tree, is a large platform of sticks lined with softer 

 materials. The Eagle never uses dead branches but 

 always breaks them fresh off the tree. There are two 

 and sometimes three dull greyish-white eggs streaked 

 and blotched with every shade of reddish-brown and lilac. 

 One of the eggs is generally addled. The young are 

 covered with white down. During incubation the Eagle 

 keeps near to his eyrie. 



