1 18 
British Birds. 
rabbits and other small mammals, as well as reptiles and water-fowl. The nest 
is placed in trees, and is made of sticks. The eggs are three or four in number, 
white or greenish white, with rufous markings. 
The large size and feathered legs, in addition to the tawny 
colour on the hind neck will always serve to distinguish a 
Golden Eagle. In the old birds the ashy grey tail, mottled 
and tipped with brown, is a characteristic feature, and in the 
young birds the tail is white for its basal half. The species is now undoubtedly more 
plentiful in Scotland than it used to be, owing to the protection which has been 
afforded to it during 
THE 
GOLDEN EAGLE. 
(Aquila chrysactus.) 
recent years, but it 
has been exter- 
minated in the 
parts of England 
and Wales in which 
it used to breed for- 
merly. In Ireland 
it still breeds in a 
few counties. It is 
found throughout 
the mountains of 
Europe, Northern 
and Central Asia, as 
well as in the Hima- 
layas, and through- 
out the northern 
parts of North 
America. The 
Golden Eagle feeds 
on hares and rab- 
bits, but will also 
eat carrion on occasion ; it is much detested by the sheep-farmers on account of the 
damage it causes by killing lambs and even sheep, and is often caught in traps. The 
nest is a large and clumsy structure of sticks and is placed on a shelf of rock or in a 
small natural cave. The eggs are two or three in number, white, richly marked 
with rufous, these markings sometimes clouding the whole egg, and while in others 
they are absent altogether. 
An accidental visitor to Great Britain, where it has occurred 
1 ! i n England and Ireland, but it has not been met with as yet in 
SPOTTED EAGLE. ° J 
, . . Scotland. There are two races of Spotted-Eagle in Europe, a 
{Aquila maculata.) r 0 r 
small one and a large one, and it is the latter which has occurred 
The Golden Eagle. 
