EAGLES 95 



before it could rise from the groUnd. This man, who was 

 dumb, and was supposed (very erroneously) to be half-witted 

 also, had a great penchant for assisting in beating the woods for 

 roe or deer ; and from long acquaintance with the country, and 

 from a propensity (very common to people similarly afflicted) 

 for wandering- about, he had a perfect knowledge of every 

 corner of the extensive woods on the property, and also a most 

 shrewd guess as to where the deer would be lying,; and in which 

 direction they would break cover. ■ Though generally of a most 

 morose and even malicious temper, Muckle Thomas, as they 

 called him, entertained a great affection, in his way, for me ; 

 and every morning was to be found seated in front of the 

 windows, smoking a solitary pipe, and waiting to see if I wanted 

 him. Though dumb, he was not deaf, and understanding what 

 was said to liim, could make himself quite intelligible by signs, 

 assisting my comprehension by drawing, in a rude way, figures 

 on the ground with the long staff which he invariably carried. 

 One morning I had sent him to look in a certain part of the 

 woods to see if any deer's tracks were visible. In an hour or 

 two he returned with something large bundled up in his plaid, 

 which he- opened, and cast down his load at my feet with a 

 look and grunt of triumph. After some explanatory signs, 

 etc., I found out that he had come on the eagle, who had so 

 completely gorged himself with a rotten sheep in the wood that 

 he could not rise. 



Another instance occurred in the same country. A shep- 

 herd's boy found an eagle gorging itself on some drowned sheep 

 in a watercourse, and being, like all herd-boys, as skilful as 

 David in the use of sling and stone, he had broken the eagle's 

 pinion with a pebble, and had actuaiUy stoned the poor bird tb 

 death. In this case the eagle was taken at peculiar disadvan- 

 tage, being surprised in a deep rocky burn, out of which he 

 would have had difficulty in rising quickly, even if he had not 

 dined so abundantly. When wounded by shot, or even after 

 escaping (but maimed) from a trap, the eagle is often unable 

 to rise. A curious anecdote was told me by a friend. An 

 eagle had been caught in a vermin-trap, and, by his struggles, 

 had drawn the peg by which the trap was fastened to the ground, 

 and had flown away with it. Nothing was seen for some weeks 

 of eagle or trap, till one day my friend, seeing some strange 



