CHAP. X.} EAGLES. 83 
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 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 pro- 
pensity (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 wait- 
ing to see if I wanted him. Though dumb, he was not deaf, and 
understanding what was said to him, 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 ina 
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, &c., I found out that he had come on the eagle, who had 
so completely gorged himself with a rotten sheep in the wood 
that it could not rise. 
Another instance occurred in the same country. A shepherd’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 actually stoned the poor bird to death. In 
this case the eagle was taken at peculiar disadvantage, 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 abun- 
dantly. 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 
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