82 Among the Birds in Northern Shires. 



was when the Golden Eagle frequented the Peak 

 district of Derbyshire, and when the White-tailed 

 Eagle regularly bred in the area of the English 

 Lakes and even in the Isle of Man; whilst farther 

 south still we find records of its nest in Lundy 

 Island and the Isle of Wight. Persecution has 

 succeeded in exterminating these Eagles in all such 

 lowland haunts; even the South of Scotland has 

 proved no safer refuge, and at the present day the 

 mountains of the north are the sole locality in which 

 they are normally found. We can vividly recall our 

 first meeting with the Golden Eagle. We had spent 

 many days amongst the Highlands in fruitless quest 

 of this fine bird, but all that rewarded us were a few 

 heads and feet, time-worn and ancient, nailed here 

 and there to some stable or kennel-door of a game- 

 keeper's premises, and any number of tales told by 

 shepherds and keepers of how the species had been 

 shot and trapped without mercy. At last our search 

 was rewarded by the discovery of an eyrie in a mag- 

 nificent cliff. We shall never forget how we watched 

 the big black bird soar out of the rocks and circle 

 overhead, and how we stood gazing in admiration as 

 it swept down from the air towards its nest, with its 

 mighty wings held up and expanded to their utmost, 

 just as we had often seen the Kestrel do, or tame 

 Pigeons, to give a more familiar instance. We have 

 seen a good many Eagles of both species since 



