94 



THE EDINBURGH JOURNAL OF NATURAL HISTORY, 



and floats in a circling course over the mountain?, until it has discovered some large 

 object ; but in tracing grouse and other animals concealed among the herbage, or in 

 hunting for sea-fowls and their young, it does not indulge in those aerial gyrations, 

 which many closet and some field naturalists have supposed to be performed solely 

 for the ])urpose of enabling it to spy out its prey from afar. In its ordinary flight, 

 it draws its legs close to the body, contracts its neck, and advances by regular flap- 

 pings of the wings ; but when sailing, it extends these organs nearly to their full 

 stretch, curving them at the same time a little upwards at the tips. An Eagle 

 sweeping past in this manner is a most imposing object, the more especially if in 

 the vicinity of its rocky haunts, and still more if the observer be groping his way 

 along the face of a crag, anxiously seeking a point or crevice on which to rest his 

 foot. 



Both our native Eagles sometimes ascend to an immense height in fine weather, 

 and float high over the mountain tops for hours together ; but certainly not for the 

 purpose of descrying the objects beneath, for no person has ever observed their sudden 

 descent from this sublime station. It is a popular notion, -countenanced even by 

 many anatomists and others, who ought to know better, that the Eagle mounts to- 

 wards the sun in order to enjoy unrestrained the sight of that glorious luminary. 

 They tell us that its eye is peculiarly fitted for this purpose by having a strong 

 semi-opaque nyctitant membrane, by means of which the rays are blunted ; but 

 they forget that the common duck, the domestic fowl, and the sparrow, which are 

 not addicted to astronomical investigation, have eyes organized precisely in the same 

 manner. 



On the ground, the Golden Eagle, like all others, is extremely awkward; for, 

 owing to its large wings, its great weight, and the form of its toes, which are en- 

 cumbered with very large curved and pointed claws, it can only walk in a very de- 

 liberate manner, or move from place to place by repeated leaps, in performing which 

 it calls in the aid of its wings. Its feet in fact are not adapted for walking; they 

 are most powerful organs of prehension, capable of inflicting mortal injury on any 

 animal not exceeding a Sheep in size. It is with them that it deprives its prey of 

 life, and carries it oif to its nest or to some convenient place of retreat. With its 

 curved bill it tears o£F the feathers and hair ; separates morsels of the flesh, and even 

 crunches the bones of small animals. 



It is seldom tliat the Golden Eagle ventures under any circumstances to attack a 

 human being. A respectable person in Sutherland relates that two sons of a man 

 of the name of jMurray, having robbed an Eagle's nest, were retreating with the 

 young, when one of the parent birds, having returned, made a most determined at- 

 tack upon them. Although each had a stick, it was with great difficulty that they 

 at length effected their escape, when almost ready to sink under fatigue. The Rev. 

 Mr Inglis, Lochlee, has furnished us with a similar anecdote. The farmer of Glen- 

 mark, whose name was IMiln, had been out one day with his gmi, and comino- upon 

 an Eagle's nsst, he made a noise, to start her, and have a shot. She was not 

 at home, however, and so Miln, taking off his shoes, began to ascend gun in hand. 

 "When about half way up, and in a very critical situation, the Eagle made her appear- 

 ance, bringing a plentiful supply to the young which she had in her nest. Quick as 

 thought she darted upon the intruder, with a terrific scream. He was clin"-in<^ to the 

 rock by one hand, with scarcely any footing. Making a desperate effort, however, he 

 reached a ledge, while the Eagle was now so close that he could not shoot at her. A 

 lucky thought struck him: he took off his bonnet and threw it at the Ea"-le, which 

 immediately flew after it to the foot of the rock. As she was returning to the 

 attack, finding an opportunity of taking a steady aim, he shot her; and, no doubt 

 giad that he had escaped so imminent a danger, made the best of his way down. 



The male and the female keep together all the year round, and very probably remain 

 attached for hfe ; but should one of them be killed in the breeding season, the sur- 

 vivor is not long in repairing his loss. This circumstance is not peculiar to Eao'les 

 but has been frequently observed in other birds, more especially those of the Crow 

 family. The Golden Eagle prepares its nest about the beginning of March, choosinn- 

 a place for it as nearly inaccessible as possible. Although it is often met with on the 

 maritime cliffs of the Hebrides, yet the species has a greater predilection for inland 

 precipices than the Sea Eagle. It is of great size, flat, and formed of sticks, twigs, 

 grass, and other materials. The eggs are generally two, sometimes single, yellowish 

 white, with irregular, pale, purplish dots. The young are fledged about the end of 

 July, and soon after coming abroad, are left to shift for themselves, or are driven 

 ofi" from the haunts of their parents. 



The cry of this species is clear and loud, and may be heard in calm weather to the 

 distance of a mile. It resembles the syllable cleeh or qweek, several times repeated; 

 but although in captivity the bird frequently utters it, in the wild state it is less lo- 

 quacious. When kept a prisoner it is more ferocious than the Sea Eagle, and can 

 scarcely be trusted even by the person who supplies it with food. The capability of 

 existing under long-continued privation has sometimes been exhibited in a wonderful 

 degree by captive Eagles, which have been accidentally neglected for days or even 

 weeks. 



I\Iany marvellous tales are told of Eagles, and there is scarcely a parish in Scot- 

 land, in which, if tradition be correct, they have not carried oft" a child. According 

 to popular belief, an Eagle transported one from the island of Harris to Skye, over a 

 space of about twenty miles ; but as even more wonderful events are as firmly beheved, 

 no confidence can be reposed in such accounts. Although individuals of the species 

 sometimes appear in various parts of England, it is probable that they seldom or never 

 breed in any district of that country. The species has been extirpated from the South 

 of Scotland, as has very nearly been the case with the Sea Eagle ; and it is only in 

 the central ranges of the Grampians, or in the wild glens of the northern division, 

 and among the hills of Skye, Rum, Harris, and other islands on the north-west coast, 

 that the Ornithologist has much chance of meeting with it. How few of these who 

 have given detailed histories of this bird have ever seen it, but how much more few 

 they who have enjoyed opportunities of studying its manners ! A single fact is of 

 course worth more than a volume of idle imaginings ; and however much the above ac- 

 count may yield in interest to those of others, it has the merit of being entirely de- 

 rived from personal observation. 



Resiauks on the Digestive Organs of Birds. — Whether the intestinal canal 

 may be employed, in preference to the sternal apparatus, the bill, the feet, or the 

 nervous or respiratory organs, as a basis for the classification of animals, is a question 

 which we do not intend here to discuss ; but of its importance in the animal economy, 

 and of the superior facility with which it may be examined, no one having any ac- 

 quaintance with Comparative Anatomy will entertain a doubt. The accompanying 

 figures represent the digestive organs of the Red Grouse or Ptarmigan {Lagopus 

 Scoticita), which being common in our markets during the autumn and winter, can be 

 readily procured for inspection. Its bill is short, somewhat conical, strong, with 

 sharp edges, and a rather rounded point. 



Fig. 2. 



The Tongue, Fig. 1, a, is short, triangular, pointed, flat above, sagittate and 

 papillate at the base. The (Esophagus, 5, c, d, c, /, g, A, is six and a half 

 inches long, narrow, and having a distinct muscular coat composed of trans- 

 verse or circular fibres, with an internal mucous coat, studded with glandules or 

 crypts, which pour out the clammy fluid with which it is constantly moistened. 

 On the lower part of the neck,- it is expanded, or opens into a large membrane- 

 ous sac, of a roundish form, the crop, d, e. On entering the thorax, at /, it is 

 narrowed ; biit at g appears enlarged, which, however, is owing solely to the thick- 

 ness of its walls there. This part, named the proventriciduSf has, between the outer 

 musculsr and inner mucous coat, a great number of oblong hollow glandules, that 

 secrete a peculiar fluid, which is copiously poured out into the cavity of the organ. 

 Here the (Esophagus terminates, and is succeeded by the stomach or gizzard, A, f, j, k. 

 This organ is of a roundish or somewhat rhomboidal, lobulated form. Its outer 

 coat is composed of two very powerful lateral muscles, i, jy of which the fibres con- 

 verge, become tendinous, and are inserted into a roundish tendinous space on each 

 side; of a lower mu^icle, k, of the same nature, but less poweiful; and of a belt of 

 superior transverse fibres, h. Within this muscular coat is another, of a dense tex- 

 ture, thin, and having a semicartilaginous appearance. The inner coat is a very 

 rous;h, hard, rugous sac, of which the portions opposite the two lateral muscles, z. j, 

 are thicker and harder than the rest. The intestine comes ofit on the right side at /, 

 forms a curve, ?, 7?i, which returns upon itself, m, n, enclosing the pancreas, and receiving 

 its ducts, together with those bringing the bile from the liver and gall-bladder. The 

 intestine, n, o, p, is then convoluted in the abdomen, and before terminating at (/, sends 

 orF two processes, or cceca, which are represented by Fig. 2, in which a, Zj, is a por- 

 tion of the intestine, c, rf, c, /, the two coeca. The intestine has beneath its exter- 

 nal or peritoneal filmy covering, a distinct muscular coat, composed of circular fibres, 

 and an internal coat, having its surface villous, or raised into very delicate filamen- 



