Eagles.] 



museum of animated nature. 



255 



ORDER RAPTORES. 



Beak strong and hooked ; flight soaring and rapid ; 

 talons sharp, incurved, and powerful. Appetite 

 carnivorous. Digestive organs simple. Females 

 in general larger than the males. Toes, three be- 

 fore and one behind. 



Family FALCONID.E 

 {Eagles, Falcons, Hawks, Kites, Buzzards, Har- 

 riers, &c). 



1199, 1200,— The Golden Eagle 



{Aquila chri/saetos). We select the Golden Eagle 

 as a specimen of the present family ; not. indeed be- 

 cause it is what modern naturalists call the type, 

 which may be found in the Peregrine or the Iceland 

 Falcon, but because it is associated in our minds 

 with ideas of courage, strength, and ferocity ; cha- 

 racteristics which are not displayed even by some 

 of the species of the genus Falco, as the Kestrel for 

 example, and still less so by the species of other 

 genera. 



What the feline and musteline races are among 

 terrestrial quadrupeds, that are the Falconidae among 

 birds. They live by slaughter ; their life is passed 

 *' in armis," and they carry on with unceasing ac- 

 tivity the work of destruction : they rejoice in car- 

 nage, and cower with outspread wings over their 

 reeking quarry, uttering shrieks of exultation. 



Their bearing is lofty and noble ; their eyes are 

 large, bright, and piercing ; their frame sinewy and 

 muscular ; their flight impetuous. Their beak is 

 strong and hooked, and the talons are formidable. 

 Look at those of the Golden Eagle (Fig. 1201), and 

 pictur^ them driven with remorseless force into the 

 flesh of the agonizing victim. 



The Falconidae live either alone or in pairs; some 

 tenant deep forests, others scour wide and level 

 plains or high moorland ; some haunt the sea-shore, 

 and build on the wave-beaten rocks ; and some 

 make the '' difficult peak" of the mountain range 

 their home. They surround their eyry with the relics 

 of many a sanguinary feast, and their " young ones 

 suck up blood." 



Among the Falconidss the eagles are pre-eminent 

 in size and daring. When at rest on the crag of 

 the rock, they assume an attitude of dignified calm- 

 ness, as if conscious of superiority ; but the bright 

 glance of the eye betrays the ferocity of disposition, 

 which the next moment may be displayed in a ter- 

 rific burst, as, sweeping down with irresistible force, 

 they prostrate their victim, and dye their beak and 

 talons in its gore. 



In all the eagles the cere at the base of the beak 

 is large and perforated by the nostrils ; the talons 

 are strong ; the wings ample and slightly rounded, 

 the fourth quill-feather being the largest. In the 

 genus Aquila, which includes the golden eagle, the 

 tarsi are plumed to the toes ; the beak is subtiian- 

 gular above ; the nostrils are rounded. 



The golden eagle (Eryr Melyn of the ancient 

 British) was once common in many parts of England, 

 and, till in comparatively recent times, bred annu- 

 ally in Cumberland, Westmoreland, and. the Peak of 

 Derbyshire. It is still to be seen in the Highlands of 

 Scotland, and in some districts of Ireland is far from 

 being uncommon. Mr. Thompson (' Mag. of Zool. 

 and Botany,' vol. ii. p. 43) states that the game- 

 keeper of Mr. Stewart, between the years 1828 and 

 1832, had killed thirteen or fourteen golden eagles 

 on the mountain range of the Horn (the name given 

 to the peninsula bounding the western entrance to 

 Sheephaven, in the county of Donegal, and which 

 terminates in the stupendous promontory of Horn 

 Head) ; and the same observant naturalist writes — 

 " On visiting Achil, off the coast of Mayo, in June, 

 1834, in company with Robert Ball, Esq., of Dublin, 

 Lieutenant Reynolds of the Preventive Service, a 

 keen sportsman, and well acquainted with birds, as- 

 sured us that one or two pairs of golden eagles breed 

 annually in the island. When subsequently on the 

 mountain of Croagh-patriek, which terminates vol- 

 cano-like 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 Man- 

 gertine. 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 Punchbowl, 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, although that of every other part was un- 



touched. We were assured that two eagles will 

 occasionally pursue a hare, one flying low, "coursing 

 it along the ground, the other keeping perpendicu- 

 larly above the terrified animal. When the lowest 

 eagle tires, they change places, and pursue the same 

 system of tactics, until the hare is completely 

 wearied out. I was told the same circumstance a 

 few days afterwards near Tralee, and again near 

 Monasterevan : my informant in every instance 

 stated the fact as having fallen under his own know- 

 ledge, and not as a matter of hearsay.' " 



The mode of pursuing the hare above described, 

 and on the correctness of which we rely, reminds us 

 that either this or an allied eagle (Aquila itnpe- 

 rialis) is employed by the Tartars in the chase of 

 antelopes, wolves, foxes, hares, &c, nor would it 

 appear that there is much difficulty in training these 

 powerful birds to the work, for, though eagles cap- 

 tured when adult are extremely savage and indocile, 

 they are as easily reclaimed as the Peregrine Falcon 

 when taken young from the nest. Mr. Thompson 

 observes that R. Langtry,Esq.,of Fortwilliam, near 

 Belfast, " has at present an eagle of this species 

 wdiich is extremely docile and tractable. It was 

 taken last summer from a nest in Inverness-shire, and 

 came into his possession about the end of Septem- 

 ber. This bird became at once attached to its owner, 

 who after having it about a month ventured to give 

 it its liberty, a privilege which was not on the eagle's 

 part abused, as it came to the lure whenever called. 

 It not only permits itself to be handled any way, 

 but seems to derive pleasure from the application of 

 the hand to its legs and plumage. The eagle was 

 hooded after the manner of the hunting-hawks for 

 some time, but the practice was abandoned ; and 

 although it may be requisite if the bird be trained 

 for the chase, hooding is otherwise unnecessary, as it 

 remains quiet and contented for any length of time, 

 and no matter how far carried on its master's arm. 

 It is quite indifferent to the presence of any persons 

 who may be in his company, and is unwilling to 

 leave him even to take a flight, having to be thrown 

 into the air whenever he wishes it to do so. When 

 this eagle is at large, he has only to hold out his 

 arm towards it, which, as soon as perceived, even 

 at a distance, it flies to and perches on. I have 

 seen it thus come to him not less than a dozen times 

 within half an hour, without any food being offered. 

 It runs very fast, and when on the ground and the 

 lure is thrown comparatively near, it prefers this 

 mode of progression to using its wings. Live 

 rats have several times been turned out of the 

 cage-trap to this bird, but before running very far 

 were invariably pounced upon." Other instances 

 of the docility of the golden eagle might be ad- 

 duced. 



Of the boldness, or rather familiarity, of this spe- 

 cies, the following statement, from the writer already 

 quoted, is a proof : — " A sporting friend," he says, 

 " who was eye-witnessto the fact, assures me that when 

 out hunting among the Belfast mountains, many 

 years ago, an eagle, which from the darkness of its 

 plumage he considered was the golden, appeared 

 above his hounds as they came to a fault on the 

 ascent to Davis (the highest of the chain) after a 

 good chase. As they came on the scent again, and 

 were at full cry, the eagle for a short time kept 

 above them, but at length advanced, and carried off 

 the hare when at the distance of from three to four 

 hundred paces before the hounds." 



Fig. 1200 is a spirited delineation of an eagle 

 brooding over her callow young, which are well 

 supplied with game ; instances, indeed, are on 

 record (as that of a peasant in Kerry, and of a man 

 at Glenariff in Antrim) of persons supporting their 

 family for a considerable length of time on the pro- 

 duce of the industry of the parent birds, which con- 

 tinue to bring food to their young, making up for 

 the recurring abstraction. Young lambs, hares, 

 rabbits, and grouse, form the chief articles of provi- 

 sion. Low, in his ' Fauna Orcadensis,' says, that 

 they do not abstain from pork in the Orkneys, but 

 bccasionally seize both old. and young swine. A 

 tlergyman told him that he had seen one, mounted 

 h the air, with a pretty large pig in her talons, 

 vhich she let fall alive when he fired at her. 

 Martin, in his ' Description of the Western Islands 

 cf Scotland,' published in 1716, speaking of this 

 tjrd, says, — " The eagles are very destructive to 

 tie fawns and lambs. The natives observe that it 

 fites its talons between the deer's horns, and beats 

 it! wings constantly about its eyes, which puts the 

 d^er to run continually till it falls into a ditch or 

 nMpr a precipice, where it dies, and so becomes a 

 pr t y to this cunning hunter. The eagle never en- 

 gages in a perfectly solitary chase except when the 

 fenale is confined to her eggs or her young. At 

 that season the proper prey of these eagles is gene- 

 ral^ so abundant that the male is able to provide 

 for n is own wants and those of the family without 

 the assistance of the female. At other times they 

 unit their exertions, and are always seen either 

 togiher or only at a short distance from each other. 



It is said that the one beats the bushes, while the 

 other, perched on an eminence, watches the escape 

 of the prey." 



Pennant adds his authority to part of Martin's 

 statement, and says that the eagles in the island of 

 Rum have nearly extirpated the deer that used to 

 abound there. He also states that eagles seem to 

 give a preference to the carcases of cats and dogs. 

 " Persons who make it their business to kill these 

 birds lay that of one or other by way of bait, and 

 then conceal themselves wuthin gun-shot. They 

 fire the instant the eagle alights, for she that mo- 

 ment looks about before she begins to prey." 



Martin, in the work just quoted, relates the fol- 

 lowing anecdote ; and one very similar is also re- 

 lated by Sir Robert Sibbald : — " There 's a couple ot 

 large eagles who have their nest on the north end 

 of the isle [St. Kilda]. The inhabitants told me 

 that they commonly make their purchase in the 

 adjacent isles and continent, and never take so much 

 as a lamb or hen from the place of their abode, 

 where they breed. I forgot to mention a singular 

 providence that happened to a native of the Isle of 

 Skye, called Neil, who, when an infant, was left by 

 his mother in the field, not far from the houses on 

 the north side of Loch Portrie ; an eagle came in 

 the mean time and carried him away in its talons as 

 far as the south side of the loch, and there laid him 

 on the ground. Some people that were herding 

 sheep there perceived it, and, hearing the infant 

 cry, ran immediately to its rescue, and, by good 

 providence, found him untouched by the eagle, and 

 carried him home to his mother. He is still living 

 in that parish, and by reason of this accident is dis- 

 tinguished among his neighbours by the surname of 

 Eagle." Ray mentions an instance of a child ayear 

 old being seized by an eagle in one of the Orkneys 

 and carried to the eyry, about four miles distant. 

 But the mother, who was aware of its situation, 

 pursued the bird thither, found her child in the 

 nest, and took it home unhurt. Other instances are 

 related, but we confess we regard them with sus- 

 picion. (See Fig. 1206.) 



Fig. 1202, an eagle among the wild mountains of 

 Glencoe. 



Elevated on some lofty pinnacle (Fig. 1203), or 

 soaring in the sky, " towering in his pride of place/ 

 the eagle gazes below and around, and marks his 

 prey at an astonishing distance. His wonderful 

 powers of vision have supplied the poets with apt 

 similes, as have also his powers and ferocity. 

 Homer, speaking of Menelaus, describes him as — 



" the field exploring with an eye 

 Keen as the eagle's— keenest eyed of all 

 That wing the air, whom, though he soar aloft, 

 The leveret 'scapes not, hid in thickest shades, 

 But down he swoops, and at a stroke she dies." 



II., xvii. 674. — Cowper. 



The eye of the eagle is indeed large, compared 

 with the skull, though the mere bulk of the eye is a 

 fallacious test, and, as in the woodcock, owl, &c, 

 is often connected with nocturnal or crepuscular 

 vision. Fig. 1204 represents a preparation of the 

 skull and eyes of the Golden Eagle ; and Fig. 1205 

 represents, a, the bony ring of the orbit of the eye ; 

 b, the crystalline lens of the same bird ; a, the an- 

 terior surface, somewhat less convex than the pos- 

 terior one. 



The golden eagle is common in many parts of 

 the Continent, where, in level districts, it frequents 

 extensive forests. It is found in France, in the 

 forest of Fontainebleau, as well as on the mountains 

 of Auvergne and the Pyrenees : it is abundant in 

 Tyrol, Russia, Sweden, Franconia, and Suabia, but 

 is rare in Holland. Of the havoc it occasions 

 where common, some idea may be formed from the 

 statement of Bechstein, that in one eyry in Ger- 

 many the skeletons of three hundred 'ducks and 

 forty hares were found ; and these were, in all pro- 

 bability, the relics of such prey only as it could 

 carry to its nest, the remains of the larger game, 

 sheep, fawns, roebucks, &c, being left after the 

 feast on the spot where the animals were slaugh- 

 tered. The present species is found in various parts 

 of Asia. We have seen specimens from India, and 

 Colonel Sykes enumerates it among the birds of the 

 Dukhun. Nor is it to the Old World that this eagle 

 is confined. It inhabits North America, from the 

 temperate to the Arctic regions, where, according to 

 Wilson, it is sparingly dispersed, breeding on high 

 precipitous rocks, and always preferring a moun- 

 tainous country. Dr. Richardson, in his ' Fauna 

 Boreali-Americana,' mentions it with a query as 

 breeding in the recesses of the subalpine country 

 which skirts the Rocky Mountains, and as seldom 

 seen farther to the eastward. It is the Kceoo of the 

 Cree Indians. This eagle " is held by the abori- 

 gines of America, as it is by almost every other 

 people, to be an emblem of might and courage ; and 

 the young Indian warrior glories in his eagle-plume 

 as the most honourable ornament with which he 

 can adorn himself. Its feathers are attached to the 

 calumets, or smoking-pipes, used by the Indians in 

 the celebration of their solemn festivals, which has 



