LONGEVITY OF THE EAGLE. 33 



eyrie. To his amazement, a marten was suckling her 

 kittens in comfortable enjoyment."* 



The allusion above made to the " princely eggs," 

 reminds us of the princely bird which laid them, and 

 those who have read the works of Shakespeare — and who 

 has not ? — must doubtless remember the beautiful simile 

 uttered by Warwick when dying on the field of Barnet : — 



" Thus yields the cedar to the axe's edge, 

 Whose arms gave shelter to the. princely eagle." 



Henry VI. Part III. Act v. Sc. 2. 



The conscious superiority of the eagle is depicted by 

 Tamora, who tells us : — 



" The eagle suffers little birds to sing, 



And is not careful what they mean thereby, 

 Knowing that with the shadow of his wing 

 He can at pleasure stint their melody." 



Titus Andronicus, Act iv. Sc. 4. 



The great age to which this bird sometimes attains has 

 been remarked by most writers on Ornithology. The 

 Psalmist has beautifully alluded to it where he says of the 

 righteous man, — " His youth shall be renewed like the 

 ea°ie's." A golden eagle, which had been nine years in 

 the possession of Mr. Owen Holland, of Conway, lived 

 thirty-two years with the gentleman who made him a 



* Colquhoun, "The Moor and the Loch," p. 330. And this is not an isolated 

 instance. See Newton, " Ootheca Wolleyana," Part I. p. n. 



