THE GOLDEN EAGLE. 167 



brought, the parent birds often absent themselves for a 

 couple of daj^s, leaving their offspring to fast, or maybe 

 to feast on the provender last supplied. On such oc- 

 casions the parent remains but six or eight seconds in 

 the nest ; and then away, to look out for more. 



Nor must it be thought that because the eagle ranges 

 over so extensive a space he must necessarily always find 

 abundance of food. This is certainly not the case, and 

 for a reason to be alluded to presently, or he would not 

 leave his offspring so long unfed as very frequently hap- 

 pens. Nature, however, with her peculiar adaptiveness 

 of arrangement, meets this difficulty by enabling the 

 eagle, not only when grown up, but even while very 

 young, to support the want of food for days together. 

 Yet his appetite is good when he can find wherewithal 

 to satisfy it ; and five or six pounds of flesh he thinks 

 nothing of at a meal. An eagle can go for a week, or 

 even for a fortnight, as the horned owl can do, without 

 eating.* One of those which Count Arco had taken from 

 a nest some years before, was kept at Berchtesgaden, 

 where he still is. The jager who had charge of him, 

 once stayed out on the mountain the whole week, and 

 his comrades, not knowing this, omitted feeding the 

 bird. On the eighth day, when the man returned, he 



* lu a state of captivity, it is said, he can fast four weeks without 

 injury. 



M 4 



