THE BOLD EAGLE. 33 



with its wings, until it has attained an altitude at which it is hardly visible. From tliat 

 post of vantage the Eagle marks the ground below, and sweeps down with lightning 

 rapidity upon bird or beast that may happen to take its fancy. It is not, however, so 

 active at rising from the ground as might be imagined, and can be disabled by a 

 comparatively slight injury on the wing. One of these birds, that was detected by a 

 young shepherd boy in the act of devouring some dead sheep, was disabled by a pebble 

 liurled at it from a sling, and was at last ignominiously stoned to death. 



When gorged with food the Eagle dislikes the exertion of flying, and generally runs 

 forward a few paces before taking to flight. The Scotcli shepherds have discovered this 

 propensity, and have invented a very ingenious traj), which is made so as to take 

 advantage of this habit. 



A circular inclosure is built of stone, about four feet in height, without any roof, and 

 with a small door on one of its sides. A dead sheep is then thrown into the centre of the 

 inclosiu-e, and a noose adjusted round the door. The Eagle soon discerns the sheep, and 

 after making a few circles in the air, alights upon the dead animal, and feeds to his heart's 

 content. After eating until he can eat no more, he thinks of moving, but as he does not 

 choose to take the trouble of flying perpendicularly in so narrow a space, he prefers to 

 walk out through the door, and is straightway strangled by the ready noose. 



The Eagle is supposed to be a very long-lived bird, and is thought to compass a 

 century of existence when it is living wild and unrestrained in its native land. Even in 

 captivity it has been known to attain a good old age, one of these birds which lived 

 at Vienna being rather more than a hundred years old when it died. 



So splendid and suggestive a bird as the Eagle could not escape the notice of any 

 human inhabitant of the same land, and we accordingly find that in all nations, even the 

 most civilized of the present day, an almost superstitious regard has attached itself to this 

 bird. The Eagles of ancient liome and of modern monarchies and empires are familiar to 

 all, and it is hardly possible to pay a higher compliment to a poet or a warrior than to 

 liken him to the royal Eagle. 



The IiMPEEiAL Eagle is an inhabitant of Asia and Southern Europe, and bears a 

 rather close resemblance to the golden Eagle, from which bird, however, it may be readily 

 distinguished by several notable peculiarities. 



The head and neck of this species are covered with lancet-shaped feathers of a 

 deep fawn colour, each feather being edged with brown. The back and the whole of the 

 upper parts are black-brown, deeper on the back, and warming towards a chestnut tint on 

 the shoulders. Several of the scapularies are pure white, and the tail is ash-coloured, 

 bordered and tipped with black. The cere and legs are yellow. The surest mark 

 by which the Imperial may be distinguished from the golden Eagle, is the white 

 patch on the scapu.laries. This is most distinct in the adult bird ; for in the plumage 

 of the young, the scapulary feathers are only tipped with white, instead of being wholly 

 of that hue. 



The Imperial Eagle is seldom seen sweeping over the plains, as it is a forest-loving 

 bird, preferring the densest woods to the open country. As far as is known, it never 

 builds its nest on the rocks, but always chooses a spreading and lofty tree for that purpose. 

 In habits it resembles the preceding species, and in disposition is fierce and destructive. 

 No specimen of this bird has yet been taken in England, although it is not at all 

 imcommon in the warmer parts of Europe. 



Australia possesses a fine example of the aquiline birds in the Bold Eagle, 

 so called from the extreme audacity which it displayed on first coming in contact 

 with mankind. 



This handsome bird is found in the whole of Southern Australia and Van Piemen's 

 Land, but Mr. Gould believes that it does not inhabit the intertropical regions. The 

 colour of the Bold Eagle is a blackish-brown, becoming paler on the edges of the wings. 

 The back of the neck takes a decided reddish hue, which forms a very conspicuous 

 characteristic in the colouring of the plumage. When young, the edge of each feather is 

 2. D 



