2 
GOLDEN EAGLE. 
long heather. After circling two or three times over the spot, the Eagle settled on a stone close by ; and here 
his majesty remained so long, apparently considering how to extricate his prey from the thick cover, that I 
was forced to remove the glasses and attend to the work I had in hand. 
Those who have only noticed an Eagle leisurely sailing across the sky can form but a very faint idea of 
the irresistible swoop he is capable of making when in pursuit of his prey. It is, however, to descend from 
the sublime to the ridiculous to describe the actions of the “king of the air,” when pressed by want, vainly 
attempting to capture a mountain-hare in broken ground among large stones. 
It is now fifteen or sixteen years ago, but I still have a perfect recollection of being witness to a most 
amusing scene of this description in Glenlyon, in Perthshire. The ground was deeply covered with frozen snow ; 
and a white hare, which had been down on the low ground during the night in search of food, was again 
making his way uphill just as the early rays of the sun were catching the hills to the north ol the Lyon. My 
attention was first attracted by an Eagle rising a short distance in the air and settling again on the large stones. 
Here he would, with apparently more haste than speed, hop clumsily from one rock to another, occasionally 
fluttering upwards and then alighting with outstretched wings, and dislodging once or twice great flakes of 
snow as lie brushed against the sides of the stones. It appeared that the Eagle was unable to seize the hare as 
it dodged backwards and forwards amongst the rocks, while, owing to the frozen snow, the hare was unable 
to escape into any of the crevices or holes which would otherwise have afforded it shelter from its pursuer. 
Every time the Eagle rose to any height in the air, the hare made a dart for fresh cover, and kept gradually 
working its way uphill, the Eagle again and again returning to the attack, but apparently without success, as 
at last I lost sight of both over the brow of the hill. The length of their wings, which, while moving on the 
ground, they frequently spread, seems to render their actions extremely awkward. I noticed particularly that 
the wings of the Eagle when in pursuit of the hare appeared on more than one occasion to strike against 
the stones ; and again a few years later I observed another instance of the same circumstance occurring. 
The keepers had noticed two or three young birds frequenting a rough hillside; and as they were 
generally seen within a short distance of the same spot, we placed a bait (a setter which had recently died) at 
the foot of a rock on which one of them occasionally rested, and set two or three traps on the nearest stones, 
one of them being on the rock itself. On visiting the spot on the following day, two of the traps were 
sprung, and in one were left a couple of the longest quill-fcatliers from the wing of an Eagle. Erom the 
manner in which the stones were scored, it was evident that the bird had been held for a considerable 
time before he effected his escape. 
While observed soaring high in the heavens, or perched on a pinnacle of rock standing out in bold 
relief against the sky, the Eagle is certainly what lie has always been described — a grand and noble-looking 
bird. When, however, lie descends to the low ground, he leaves (to my mind, at least) his nobility behind 
him, and shudlcs about with no more dignity, and far less case, than a Carrion-Crow. It is, nevertheless, 
a fact that although in the air he is frequently attacked and bulleted by various species of birds, any number 
that may be feeding on or gathered round some prey they have discovered at once give way and withdraw 
when Lis majesty appears on the scene. 
To see an Eagle to the very greatest disadvantage, lie ought to be watched when sheltering himself from 
the force of the elements during a storm of wind and rain. As I am well aware that it has been stated by 
some writers (good sportsmen, too) that the Eagle is utterly regardless of the storm, that he, indeed, defies 
the hurricane, it may be as well to remind my readers that I simply give my own experience. I never yet had 
an opportunity of watching an Eagle or, indeed, any other bird that appeared particularly to appreciate the 
effects of wind, together with rain or sleet and snow. A steady downpour seems often acceptable to many 
species, and even the cold and wintry blast will scarcely affect them ; but let the weather be only what a 
Highland Gillie would describe as “carse ” (which means all the disagreeable properties of our British climate 
