Natural History of Ireland. 43 



a few years since on Muckish mountain, in the county of Donegal. 

 The gamekeeper of Mr Stewart of" the Horn"* informed me when 

 there in June 1832, accompanied by Richard Langtry, Esq. that 

 since he entered on his present occupation in 1828, he had destroy- 

 ed thirteen or fourteen eagles, one only of which was of this species 

 — it was taken on one of the inland mountains of " the Horn.' 

 When about the same time I visited the precipitous mountain of 

 Rosheen, near Dunfanaghy, in the same county, I was told that, 

 previous to the last twelve years, a pair of eagles had their eyrie in 

 one of the inaccessible cliffs, and, as their young advanced in growth, 

 levied such contributions from the surrounding neighbourhood, that 

 the country people finally resolved upon their destruction. This 

 was effected by lowering from the summit of the precipice a lighted 

 brand, which ignited and consumed the nest, and three unfortunate 

 eaglets fell scorched and dead to the ground. The old birds from this 

 time deserted the mountain. From the situation selected for this 

 eyrie, the species was most probably the golden eagle. 



On visiting Achil, off the coast of Mayo, in June 1834, in com- 

 pany with Robert Ball, Esq, of Dublin, Lieutenant Reynolds of the 

 Preventive Service, a keen sportsman, and well acquainted with 

 birds, assured us that one or two pairs of golden eagles breed annu- 

 ally in the island. When subsequently on the mountain of Croagh- 

 patrick, that volcano-like terminates in a magnificent cone, and is 

 in elevation the second in Connaught, we for a considerable time 

 observed a pair of these eagles towering above its summit. In the 

 county of Kerry a few weeks afterwards, an eagle, supposed to be 

 of this species, was seen by some of our party when viewing the 

 lakes of Killarney from the topmost ridge of Mangerton. When on 

 a visit to this same place the previous autumn, my friend, Robert 

 Patterson, Esq. of Belfast, made the following note, which he has 

 kindly permitted me to use: — " Near to the little lake called the 

 Devil's Punch-bowl, we disturbed four eagles preying on a full grown 

 sheep ; they rose majestically into the air as we approached. 

 The people who were with us supposed the sheep, being perhaps 

 sickly, had been killed by the eagles, — a supposition corroborated by 

 the quantity of fleece scattered over the ground for some yards in 

 one direction. The flesh of the neck was completely removed, al- 

 though that of every other part was untouched. We were assured 

 that two eagles will occasionally pursue a hare, one flying low and 



* The name given to the peninsula bounding the western entrance to 

 Sheephaven, in the county Donegal, and which terminates in the stupendous 

 promontory of Horn Head. 



