AVES— EAGLE. 435 



inches long, and of a deep blue ; and the eye of a very brilliant hazel color. 

 The sight and sense of smelling are very acute. The head and neck are 

 clothed with narrow, sharp-pointed feathers, of a deep brown color bordered 

 with tawny; but those on the crown of the head, in very old birds, turn 

 gray. The whole body, above as well as beneath, is of a dark brown; and 

 the feathers of the back are finely clouded with a deeper shade of the same. 

 The wings when clothed reach to the end of the tail. The quill feathers 

 are of a chocolate color, the shafts white. The tail is of a deep brown, 

 irregularly barred and blotched with an obscure ash color, and usually white 

 at the roots of the feathers. The legs are yellow, short, and very strong, 

 being three inches in circumference, and feathered to the 'very feet. The 

 toes are covered with large scales, and armed with the most formidable 

 claws, the middle of which are two inches long. 



This eagle inhabits the highest mountains of the north of Europe and 

 America, and preys on fawns, lambs, hares, and large birds. It soars to a 

 prodigious height. An individual was kept at Vienna, which lived one 

 hundred and four years. 



In general all eagles are found in the mountainous and ill peopled countries, 

 and breed among the loftiest cliffs. They choose those places which are 

 remotest from man, upon whose possessions they but seldom make their 

 depredations, being contented rather to follow the wild game in the forest, 

 than to risk their safety to satisfy their hunger. 



It requires great patience and much art to tame an eagle; and even 

 though taken young, and brought under by long assiduity, yet still it is a 

 dangerous domestic, and often turns its force against its master. When 

 brought into the field for the purposes of fowling, the falconer is never sure 



