The Golden Eagle. 113 



Familv—FAL CONID/K. 



Golden Eaglk. 



Aquilii c/irysa'ctics, LlNN. 



AT the present day this fine Eagle, the Black Eagle of the Scotch Highlands, 

 (as also of many other parts of the world), that makes its home in almost 

 all the mountainous regions of the Old World and in some of the New, is only 

 to be found as a resident in a few remote places in the Western Highlands, in 

 the Outer Hebrides, especially the islands of Lewis and Harris, while one or two 

 eyries may still be left in the west of Ireland. It was being rapidly exterminated 

 by shepherds, game-preservers, and " collectors," included also, and paid for 

 whenever slaughtered, in the proscribed list of vermin, until a few of the Scotch 

 land-owners resolved to protect it, and on their estates it is said to be recovering its 

 numbers. Two centuries ago the Golden Eagle was still nesting on Snowdon, in 

 North Wales, and on the peaks of Derbyshire ; and within the last hundred ^-ears 

 there were eyries i:i the Lake District, and on the Cheviots. Howard Saunders 

 was informed b}^ Mr. R. Service that, across the Border, there were e3-ries up to 

 1833 on the Moffat Hills, and for some years after 1850 in Ayrshire, Dumfries, 

 and Galloway. In the Scotch Lowlands the Golden Eagle is now onh- known 

 as a visitor in autumn. There are onh* a few instances of its occurrence in the 

 southern counties of England, and some of these may refer to immature examples 

 of the White-tailed Eagle which have been mistaken for it ; 3^et the differences 

 in the legs and feet of the two birds should prevent this confusion. 



In 1840, the 3'ear in which Professor William Macgillivra}-, the distinguished 

 naturalist of Aberdeen, published his valuable account of the British Birds, the 

 Golden Eagle was still fairlj- common in the Scotch Highlands, and one of the 

 best accounts of its habits is to be read in his pages. What an admirable word- 

 picture is the following, inspired b}- a Golden Eagle seen near the wild peaks of 

 Lochnagar! "See how the sunshine brightens the 3'ellow tint of his head and 

 neck, until it shines almost like gold ! There he stands nearlv erect, with his 

 tail depressed, his large wings half raised b}- his side, his neck stretched out, and 

 his e3'e glistening as he glances around. Like other robbers of the desert he has 

 a noble aspect, an imperative mien, a look of proud defiance ; but his nobilitv has 



