GOLDEN EAGLE 
195 
wing. It is a little larger than the " Common " 
Buzzard, and has a bolder flight. During its 
visits to England it often attacks and feeds on 
rabbits. 
GOLDEN EAGLE. 
(^Aquila chrysaetus.) 
Black Eagle. — The Golden Eagle occasionally 
wanders to the south and east of England, but it 
now only breeds in parts of the Scotch Highlands 
where it is preserved by the landowners, and more 
rarely in the mountains of Ireland. Since protec- 
tion was extended to it it has increased considerably 
in numbers, and with the certain growth of interest 
in all forms of natural life it may happily now be 
regarded as fairly safe for the future. It is a 
splendid feature ot the wild moorlands and moun- 
tains which it inhabits, and a magnificent spectacle 
in flight. It feeds largely on grouse, and the way 
in which the grouse will disregard all other occu- 
pations and alarms, and lie absolutely motionless in 
the heather, the moment that the wing ot the eagle 
is visible round the shoulder of the hill, is one of 
the most characteristic and striking incidents in 
wild life which Britain has now to show. King 
among birds though the Golden Eagle is, the 
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