4§ & The Difcovery, Settlement, and Commerce Book I. 
of which we are now to fpeak. It is a very difficult Thing ' 
to affign the true Size of this Bird, becaufe the Records of 
Hiftory, and the Experience of later Ages do not very 
well agree. The Antients report, that the Eagle is very 
long-lived, fo as to reach a full Century, and to grow as long 
as he lives, which if certain, might induce us to believe 
what A then reus tells us, that at the Inauguration of Ptolemy 
Philadelphia i there were Eagles carried in the Proceffion, 
the Wings of which when extended, meafured thirty Feet k . 
A modern Naturalift allures us l , that not far from Drefden 
in Saxony , an Eagle’s Nell was difcovered, in which there 
were three young Birds full fledged, but not quite able to 
fly, tho* their Wings expanded reached feven Yards. But 
in the Memoirs of the Royal Academy at Paris m , there is 
a large Account of a She Eagle diffefted there, which falls 
very far fhort of what is mentioned in the former Rela- 
tions ; for this Bird meafured but two Foot nine Inches 
from the Beak to the Tail ; the Extent of her Wings was 
but feven Feet, and the whole Weight of the Bird no more 
than ten Pounds. In all Probability this was a very fmall 
Eagle, and perhaps not of any of thofe Sorts mentioned 
by the Antients, who agree very well in their Accounts, 
and particularly in this, that the Indian Eagles excelled the 
reft in Courage and Strength, and confequently in Size. 
The fame Writers obferve, that this Bird has a very 
brilkEye, which is fixed pretty deep in the Head, covered 
in fome Meafure by the Bone which projebls over it, and 
ftrengthened by a Membrane of a finguiar Texture, being 
made up of feveral fmall Scales. The Ball of the Eye is of 
a bright Ifabella, and has all the Life and Beauty of a To- 
paz. The Tongue of the Eagle is not pointed like that 
of other Birds, but in a manner fquare, of a fort of carti- 
laginous Subftance with two hard Points at the Bottom like 
the Barbs of the Head of an Arrow. The Wind-pipe of 
this Animal is prodigioufly ftrong, and in breathing is dif- 
tended to fuch a Degree, as to be near two Inches in 
Diameter. Its Bones are very thick and hard and have 
fcarce any Marrow : Its Brain is faid to be of fo hot a Na- 
ture, as when given in Powder to occafion Madnefs: 
Its Blood is very thick, and in a Manner fibrous : Its Gal] 
fharp, penetrating, and capable of eating into whatever 
it touches, and its very Feathers are of fuch a corrofive 
Quality, that they deftroy if mixed with them, the Fea- 
thers of other Birds n . 
The Voracity of the Eagle is fo great, that it requires 
a confiderable Extent of Country to furnifh Prey fufficient 
for his Subfiftance ; and hence it is oblerved, that two 
Eagles never live near each other. Arifiotle and Pliny 
telfus, that when the young Eagles grow up and begin to 
fly, the old ones not only drive them from their Airies, 
but alfo force them to quit the adjacent Country °. Thefe 
voracious Birds not only prey on all Sorts of large Fowl, 
but hunt alfo Rabbits, Hares, Sheep, Goats and Fawns, 
which they kill and carry away. We have an Account 
from Mian*, of an Eagle of extraordinary Size, which 
ravaged Part of the Hand of Crete , and was fo furious, 
that he hunted Bulls and Oxen, as well as fmaller Crea- 
tures : The Manner in which he deftroy’d them was 
this, he fixed his Talons betwixt their Horns, and then 
began to tear their Heads with his Beak, and often cover- 
ing their Eyes with his Wings ; the Creatures mad and 
blind, ran as fall as they were able, till they either fell 
over Precipices, or ftuck faft in fome Morafs, where the 
Eagle tore out their Bellies, and having thus killed them, 
devour’d them at his Leifure. 
As this Creature lives entirely on the Flefh of Animals, 
' he taftes no Liquid but their Blood, and never drinks Wa- 
ter but when he is fick. It is faid that the Stork is the only 
Creature able to refill him ; and in one of the old Poets we 
have a large Defcription of a Battle between thefe Birds, in 
which, however, there is a greater Appearance of Imagi- 
nation than Reality E Other Animals are fo fearful of the 
Eagle, that they tremble at his Cry \ and even the Dragon 
is faid to retire for Shelter to his Den, The Sea Eagle 
hovers over that Element, or over the Lakes, • and darting 
with prodigious Force into the Water, feize the Fifh in 
their Talons, carry them on Shore and devour them ; ’tis 
for this Reafon that the Indians profecute them with a cruel 
and never ceaflng War, and are faid to deftroy them with 
burning Arrows. 
One of the molt finguiar Qualities of this Bird is, the Ca- 
pacity he has of beholding without Inconvenience the Sun 
in his Meridian Luftre •, and of this Property lie is fo jea- 
lous, as to deftroy (if the Ancients fay Truth) fuch of its 
Progeny as wink, when in their Nells, the old one turns , 
their Heads towards the Sun r . But with refpeft to the : 
young ones that are able to bear this Trial, the Eagles i 
cherilh them with as much Tendernefs as any other Bird, 
and defend them with the moil obftinate Refolution in cafe 
any Attempt be made to take them. They fly round their 
Neft, and vary their Flights for the Inftrudion of their 
Young ; and afterwards taking them on their Backs, they » 
foar with them aloft in order to try their Strength, fhaking • 
them off into the Air ; and if they perceive them too weak ; 
to fuftain theihfelv.es, they with furprizing Dexterity fly ] 
under them again, and receive them on their Wings to J 
prevent their Fall. The Eagle is fuppofed to be the only j. 
fort of Bird indued with this kind of Inflinft, and this ferves s 
to explain one of the boldeft and moft beautiful Similes in.; 
the Sacred Writings s . 
The yoiing Eagle, perfected by fuch Inftru< 5 lions, wings | 
his Flight into the fuperior Regions of the Air, and not- j 
withftanding his great Bulk, frequently foars out of Sight, j 
flying always directly towards the Sun,. Hence is derived:: 
the Fancy of the Poets, that Ganymede was carried by an i 
Eagle up to Heaven, and there became the Cup-bearer of 
the Gods ; and hence alfo another Notion took Rife, that s 
the Souls of Heroes were in like manner conveyed to the a 
Celeftial Regions \ It is pretended, that the true Reafon 1 
why fome of the young Eagles are not able to bear ther ! 
piercing Light of the Sun is their having fome Defedt in t 
their Eye-lids ; for it is faid, that they are furnifhed by* 
Nature with two Membranes for this Purpofe, one of 3 
which we have before fpoken, which covers the Eye, and: 
fhuts out the Light entirely, the other of a thinner and: 
more delicate Texture, which being drawn over the Eye, ! 
preferves it from being any way injured by the ftrongeft; 
Rays of Light u . It is however very remarkable, that inti 
the Memoirs of the Royal Academy at Paris , relating tod 
the Diffeftion of this Bird, there is nothing faid of this r 
fecond and thinner Membrane, though the Eye and the; 
other fcaly Membrane are very accurately defcribed w . 
In this, however, all Writers antient and modern agrees : 
that the Eagle is not at all incommoded by the Sun-beams,; 
and that it is very probable he renews his Strength, or pre-: 
ferves his Youth by touring fo near that Fountain of Light i 
and Heat. We are particularly told by fome Writers, that: 1 
once every ten Years he makes an unufual Progrefs in his; 
Journey, and that for this Reafon : He finds his Wings;# 
and other Feathers heavy and unfit for flying, which in-i 
duces him to rife with all his Force, in order to reach asi> 
near the Sun as poflible ; and having thus heated his Plu-ij 
mage exceffively, he drops at once into the Sea, after which bi 
all his Feathers fall off by degrees, and others fucceed them V.t 
MU an affures us, that the Eagle is exceedingly grate-:;:, 
ful r , an Inftance of which he gives us in a Bird of thatiri 
kind, which attended the great Conqueror Pyrrhus all his 
Life, and which he was wont to feed with his own Hand ; : 
and which after the Death of that illuftrious Perfon, refufedfti 
to take any Nutriment from another Hand, but chofe rather:.: 
to ftarve. He mentions likewife another Fad ftill more* 
remarkable, which is, that an Eagle flew into the Funeraba 
Pile of one by whom it was brought up, and was thereti 
confumed with the dead Body of his Benefactor. 
k T)eiPnofophid lib v. 1 Jonfton Theatr. Animal. Pom. I p. i. m Memoirs de V Acad. Royal des Sciences Pom. m.p. ii. p. 89. " Ari/lotd 
Pill AC, fifr* AlSJJ. lit. ii. ea t . A » Jrif*. de Hi/ 1 . Animal lib. ix «W. Hi],. U X. , 4. ’ 
Animal lib A P %Q * Statius , Phebaid, lib. iii. r PU«. Hijl. Nat. lib. x. c. 4. Man. Lb. 11. f, 4®; Lucan : Civ ml. bo ix.v aoz. 
Ifodor. Origin! lib', xii- <r. 7. Osvid. Metam. lib. viii. 8 This occurs in the Song of Mofes , where he thus defcnbes toe -Jareft of the Child^ 
ft I fra si through the Wildernefs. “ As the Eagle ftirreth up her Neft, fluttering over her Young, fpreadeth forth Her Yv mgs and bm.eth them,, 
* upon them : So the Lord alone did lead him, and there was no ftrange Goa with him. Deut. xxxii. 11,12. A 1 " . 
!?■ 0 man . fi coq. & feq. « P. Ange, , Praite dOptique. w Memoirs de V Academie, as before Cited. x Bochart L.ercx. n. i . hb.m * 
■cf fequen. This is thought to be alluded to Pfalm cii. 5. “ who fatisfieth thy Mouth with good Things : fo that thy / QUth is renewed .luce me Eagles. ... 
De Animal, lib. ii. cap. 40. AAJiotk 
