EAGLES. 693 



However great may be his hunger, he will never feed upon dead 

 carcasses. Again, like the Lion, he lives a solitary life, inhabiting 

 a desert, into which he allows no other bird to enter, and in which 

 he himself must be the sole hunter ; for two pairs of Eagles in the 

 same mountain district are, perhaps, a rarer sight than two 

 families of Lions in the same part of a forest. They keep at a 

 sufficient distance from one another, so that the space allotted 

 to them should furnish each an ample subsistence ; and the extent 

 of their demesne is regulated by its productiveness. The Eagle 

 has a flashing eye like the Lion, and is nearly of the same colour ; 

 has claws of a similar shape, a breath equally rank, and a cry 

 equally frightful. Both seem as if they were made for combat 

 and the pursuit of prey ; both are alike inimical to companionship, 

 alike ferocious, alike proud, and difficult to tame." 



Buflbn has much overrated the reputation of the Eagle ; it will 

 be well to reduce it to somewhat more just proportions. Agreeing 

 with the immortal naturalist, we admit that the Eagle is en- 

 dowed with no common amount of strength. With regard to its 

 magnanimity, we must be allowed to entertain a doubt. As a 

 matter of fact, the Eagle always attacks animals which are unable 

 to resist it ; if [it disdains small birds, it is because they can 

 easily evade its pursuit, and after all, there would be but little 

 profit gained if they were caught. As to its moderation, it is 

 easily proved to have no existence save in the imagination of 

 the distinguished naturalist. On the contrary, the Eagle is 

 voracious ; it never leaves its prey until it is completely surfeited, 

 and then only because it is unable to carry away the remainder 

 to its aerie. So far from despising dead carcasses, it will readily 

 feed upon them, even when it is not compelled by need, for it 

 will gorge itself on carrion to such an extent that it frequently 

 becomes incapable of avoiding its enemies. Its honesty, too, is 

 a fact not better established, for the Fish Eagle pursues birds 

 that are weaker than itself, and, in defiance of all justice, takes 

 from them the booty which they have acquired through labour. 



By a kind of rhetorical metaphor the Eagle has been proclaimed 

 "the king of birds." If the possession of strength, and the abuse 

 which is made of it, constitute the attributes of royalty, the 

 Eagle has an unquestionable right to the title But if with the 



Q Q 



