94 IVJLD SPOkTS OP THE HIGHLANDS chap. 



more southern heights of the Grampians. The bird was flying 

 very near the ground, making his way against the wind, and 

 pursued by a whole squadron of grey crows, who had found out 

 that he was a stranger, and taking advantage of the unconcerned 

 contempt with which he treated their attacks, kept up a con- 

 tinual clamour and petty warfare against the royal bird. The 

 eagle, as he came over the more enclosed part of the country, 

 flew higher, as if suspicious of concealed foes amongst the hedges 

 and enclosures. I have almost every year during my stay in 

 Morayshire seen the eagles occasionally passing, at the beginning 

 of winter invariably going sofithwards, and agairi early in the 

 spring on their return northwards ; in windy weather flying 

 low, but when calm cleaving the air at a great height. The 

 eagle's flight, when passing from one point to another, is 

 peculiarly expressive of strength and vigour. He wends his 

 way with deliberate strong strokes of his powerful wing, every 

 stroke apparently driving him on a considerable distance, and 

 in this manner advancing through the air as rapidly as the 

 pigeon or any other bird which may appear to fly much more 

 quickly. 



Notwithstanding the facility with which he flies when once 

 fairly launched, like many other heavy birds, a very slight wound 

 disables him from rising into the air when on level ground. 

 Even after having gorged himself to excess (and there is no 

 greater glutton than this king of the air) the eagle is unable to 

 rise, and falls a victim occasionally to his want of moderation in 

 feeding. When in Sutherland I twice fell in with instances of 

 eagles being knocked down when unable to rise from over- 

 eating. On one occasion a curious kind of character, who acted 

 the part of hanger-on to me in my deer-shooting excursions, 

 brought home an eagle, which he had killed with his stick 



the eagle generally carries it off without stopping for a moment. To kill an animal it 

 makes use only of its talons. The eagle, however, prefers the carcass of a large animal, 

 such as a deer or sheep, to the trouble of hunting and taking smaller game. 



The golden eagle usually breeds inland, and the white-tailed eagle usually on the 

 cliffs overhanging the sea, though there are exceptions to both these rules. The white- 

 tailed eagle (A. alHcilla) also feeds on carrion as well as on fish. It is rare in Moray. 

 — C. St. J. 



The golden eagle still holds its own in the western districts of Scotland. It is 

 preserved by the Duke of Sutherland and by almost all proprietors of land. Were 

 it not for. the demand for its eggs and the large price paid for them it would increase 

 faster than, even as it is, it is said to do at present. It is a well-known bird in the Outer 

 Hebrides, best known in Lewis and Harris. Its Gaelic name is " iolair dhubh" (black 

 eagle). 



