78 THE BOOK OF BIRDS 



that in such wild places as Strathglass, where there are 

 but few eyes to notice what goes on, stranger things 

 happen than are recorded in books. 



Mr. Scott Rankin, whose beautiful drawings of 

 Highland scenery and wild life are well known, sends me 

 the following notes as to the boldness of the Golden 

 Eagle : " They prey," he says, " on every other species of 

 bird and beast which they can successfully attack, though 

 they also relish carrion wherever it is to be found. They 

 have been known to attack a forest pony which was left 

 browsing near their home ; also they have been known 

 to drive roe-deer over a cliff when they could not ac- 

 complish their death otherwise. They frequently attack 

 the kids of the wild goats and the young of the red-deer, 

 also lambs and of course every kind of small game. 

 Natural histories speak of the Eagles as rather timid and 

 shy, but from what I have seen of them and heard of 

 them from the stalkers, they appear to be just the reverse. 

 One of them ' stooped ' and picked up a grouse from near 

 the feet of a stalker at Lochbuie, though he ran at it and 

 threw his stick at it as it rose." 



Another Scottish observer says : " I have seen an Eagle 

 seize a dog by the head, and but for my belabouring the 

 savage bird with a stick it would have killed the dog in 

 a short time. Positive proof is recorded of a fox being 

 killed and partly devoured by an Eagle." 



This same writer once robbed a Golden Eagle's nest 

 in Ross-shire — ^to save the Eagles ! This was the reason : 

 The neighbouring farmers had been complaining of lambs' 

 being carried off, and asked that the two robbers might 

 be shot. The keepers on the estate consulted him about 

 it, and he wisely suggested that as the birds only stole 

 the lambs when they had hungry nestlings to feed, the 



