74 THE BOOK OF BIRDS 



deep grey marked with several regular dark brown 

 bars. 



All this looks dull and sombre enough under a cloudy 

 sky, but seen as Miss North, the lady traveller, tells us 

 she saw these grand birds in India, they make good their 

 name : " Great Golden Eagles came rushing across the 

 deep valley, looking really golden in the slanting rays of 

 the sun." 



The male bird is often three feet in length, the female 

 is six inches longer. When the great wings are out- 

 stretched the span is nine feet ! How serviceable they are 

 to their owner every observer knows. Charles St. John, 

 who knew so well all the wild creatures of his native 

 Highlands, says : — 



" I have almost every year, during my stay in Moray- 

 shire, seen the Eagles occasionally passing, at the beginning 

 of winter, invariably going southwards, and again early in 

 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.'' 



It is not only when he rises to a lofty height that an 

 Eagle's strength of wing is seen to advantage. Watch 

 two Eagles hunting together. While one of them holds 

 aloof, the other " beats " the covert, flapping noisily 

 among the bushes and brushwood, often screaming, and in 

 short, making a grand commotion. The consequence is 

 that the birds and animals lurking there are seized with 



