8 
WHITE-TAILED EAGLE. 
with a gun from which the charges had been extracted) was of but little consequence, and shortly after atoned 
for. Ear more serious results, however, arc likely to occur should a gun of tins description containing 
cartridges he handled by some inexperienced sportsman who believes the weapon to be what he would term 
“empty.” The gun of the future ought, in my opinion, to possess indicators that show plainly whether or not 
the barrels contain cartridges. 
“ On arriving at a spring within a quarter of a mile of our destination we halted for a few minutes, and, 
with the help of the glasses, made a thorough examination of the nest, which was now in view, placed in the 
face of a steep and overhanging cliff. It was evident that the female was absent ; but the male was at length 
discovered, at the distance of nearly a mile, perched on a detached rock out on the open moor. As he sat with 
Ms head drawn back and facing the full blaze of the sun, which was now getting low, it appeared as if he had 
not yet observed us. After carefully scanning the intervening space with the glasses, we came to the conclusion 
that, if I could manage to reach a long broken ridge of rock that ran in the direction of the slab on which lie 
had taken up his position, I should probably be able to obtain a shot. The track I was forced to follow was 
far steeper than I had anticipated ; owing to the dry weather the turf was slippery as glass, and I had the 
greatest difficulty in getting foothold. At last I reached the summit, and I now discovered that our 
suppositions were correct, as if able to keep myself low enough to gain the shelter of the ridge, the travelling 
would be comparatively easy. The air was oppressively hot, and the heat in the gully up which I had climbed 
had been almost unbearable. Just as I had advanced about halfway over the eighty or one hundred yards of 
open moorland that separated me from the ridge, and which I was forced to cross in serpentine fashion, crawling 
flat on the ground, and shoving the gun in front of me, I encountered a delightfully cool and pleasant breeze. 
The sudden chill, however, put a stop to my advance, as it brought on such a fit of sneezing that I was 
compelled to bury ray head in the moss for several minutes for fear of disturbing the bird. While working the 
gnn along through the rough grass and among the tangled heather-stalks, I discovered that, owing to the 
absence of hammers, I could make my way with far greater freedom than with the old-fashioned weapons. At 
last I was able to proceed ; and once well under the shelter of the ridge I was no longer obliged to adopt such 
an uncomfortable mode of progression. On starting again after a short rest, I was not long in reaching the 
marks I had taken as the nearest spot from which I should have to shoot. Here I was delayed a few minutes 
in order to thoroughly examine the muzzle and barrels of the gun ; and while preparing to look over my 
attention was attracted by a harsh scream high in the air above me, and on rising suddenly up I discovered 
the bird just disappearing from sight over the brow of the hill, having probably only spread his wings a second 
or two before, when the alarm-note of the female gave him warning. As both Eagles were now on the watch 
and evidently disturbed, it was useless to wait ; so I made my way slowly back towards the spot where we had 
halted. Slightly altering my course I avoided the steep gully up which I had scrambled, and returned by a 
longer but easier track, rejoining the men a short distance from the nest. After remaining some time surveying- 
all approaches and places for concealment, we retreated a few hundred yards to a grassy hollow, from which, 
under the shelter of some stunted bushes and moss-grown stones, we could obtain a view of the whole range of 
cliffs in which the nest was placed, and at the same time refresh ourselves with lunch. With the exception of 
a wee nip taken at a well near the foot of the hill, neither bit nor sup had passed our lips for over eight hours, 
and rest and food were most acceptable. While repacking the baskets after satisfying our hunger, I first 
noticed that the gradually increasing gloom was not entirely caused by the disappearance of the sun behind 
the hills, and a distant roll of thunder shortly after warned us that a tempest was approaching. One of the 
men, who, while I was absent in pursuit of the male, had been as near to the nest as he was able to crawl, 
stated that he had plainly heard the young birds calling ; if this was the case, I was of opinion that 1 should 
be sure of a shot by waiting for the return of the female. Before many minutes had elapsed the western sky 
was entirely overcast with dense black clouds, and the loudness of the peals of thunder indicated that the 
