THE GOLDEN EAGLE. 185 



tree, and never once ceased gazing at me in my con- 

 cealment for two full hours. I watched him the whole 

 time with my telescope through the small porthole in 

 my screen, and saw distinctly that he was occupied 

 uninterruptedly and exclusively in discovering if I 

 was inside or not. His countless various movements 

 with the head, neck, and eyes were in a high degree 

 interesting. Bitterly uncomfortable as it was to do so, 

 I still resolved not to stir, as his cunning would 

 assuredly have discovered the least movement on my 

 part. Those were two painful hours ! At last he 

 spread his large pinions, and mth a single rush shot 

 away from the rock and disappeared over the ridge. 

 I thought, should he not have observed me, he will 

 certainly think all is right, and will go to fetch pro- 

 vender for his young : if, on the contrary, he does not 

 return, then he assuredly has seen me in spite of my 

 concealment. An hour had scarcely passed when I 

 suddenly heard a rushing noise, and at the same 

 moment he had already flown past the eyrie. In doing 

 so, he had, with a dexterity equal to his cunning, flung 

 sideways to his offspring a roe-kid which he held in his 

 talons, and then, instantaneously folding his long wings 

 close to his body, dropped like a stone through the air, 

 a distance of 200 feet ; when suddenly, as with a start, 

 spreading out his pinions, began to wheel about quietly 

 as before. All this was the work of a moment, so that 



