196 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH INLAND BIRDS 
sinewy Raven is not afraid to attack him when he 
considers that his nest is endangered. The plumage 
of the Eagle is a rich, clouded brown, mainly dark, 
but with tawnier streaks and stains, and with a 
distinctly lighter and yellower mane-like plume on 
the head and neck. This mixture of colour, as 
seen in a bright or gloomy light, explains " Black" 
and " Golden *' as possible names of one and the 
same species. It feeds upon lambs, young deer, 
and hares, as well as grouse and many other birds, 
and does not disdain to eat carrion at times. After 
a gorge on a dead sheep it is occasionally found 
almost as incapable of flying as a Vulture in the 
same condition. Most, if not all, of the well- 
known stories of its carrying off children are purely 
legendary. Its cry is a shrill scream. Its nest, or 
eyrie (which simply means " eggery is a mass of 
sticks placed on a ledge in some precipitous rock, 
or, more rarely, in a tree. It is often added to, 
spring by spring, for many years, and is then of 
great size. It is lined with dry stems, tufts of 
heather, and various other plants, both green and 
dry. Occasionally the Eagles have been known to 
add large bits of sacking or similar materials to 
their nest, more, apparently, for ornament than to 
provide soft bedding for the eggs or young. The 
eggs are laid in April, and are two or three in 
number. They vary, much in the same way as 
