THE EAGLE. 
15 
‘Owever, it is wholly exposed to the winds, as w r ell side- 
j, as above ; for the nest is flat, though built with great 
ha'rr* ^ ’ s . sa '^ l ' ml the same nest serves the eagle dur- 
■'g lire; and indeed the pains bestowed in forming it seems 
0 aigue as much. It is asserted that as soon as the young 
ones are somewhat grown, the mother kills the most feeble 
or the most voracious. If this happens, it must proceed 
only front the necessities of the parent, who is incapable 
° P r °viding for their support ; and is content to sacrifice a 
part to the welfare of the majority. 
The plumage of the eaglets is not so strongly marked as 
when they come to be adult. They are at first white;* then 
inclined to yellow ; and at last light brown. Age, hunger, 
oho captivity, and diseases, make them whiter. It is said 
‘At they live above an hundred years : and that they at last 
i ie, not of old age, but from the beak turning inward upon 
f e , Unt ," l j mandible, and thus preventing their taking any 
v ;° l I ale "ideed equally remarkable for their longe- 
p )( "J an d for their power of sustaining a long absence from 
* i. * no of this species, which was lately nine years in 
thirt^°t SSeSS, ° n ^ 1 ’ ® wen Holland, of ( Conway, lived 
0 p j t . years with the gentleman who made him a present 
I, ’ , )u . t "hat its age was when the latter received it from 
of tlie'ii- 1 ?i U, ci OWI1, ^be same bird also furnishes a proof 
neoleci .a- 1 ° t le other remark; having once, through the 
without ■ seivants > endured hunger for twenty-one days, 
extraordi 811 ^ Sl ' sten ance whatever. But this is still less 
de B ll 0f mai -y tlan an mstance recorded by our author, M. 
one of t/ 1 ’ " 1° Was assured, by a person of veracity, that 
five pm' .' eSe , being caught in a fox-trap, existed for 
ance Weeas without aliment. It shewed no appear- 
at Ipnn-ii aa » Uor till the last eight days, and it was killed 
eaulp ° .1 \ IU t ? r ^ er t0 deliver it from its sufferings. The 
whirl St (on '. drinks, as its principal aliment is raw flesh, 
c 1 contains in itself a sufficient quantity of moisture. 
ea(.r] Ut . * C l ' le Sp nera l characteristics and habitudes of the 
ea „i ‘ *'°wevor, in some these habitudes differ, as the sea 
biufii n • e os P re y live chiefly upon fish, and consequently 
on tl le " - ncsts 011 l l le sea-shore, and by the sides of rivers, 
auion g 'eeds; and often lay three or four 
fonn -n €SS lhan U } ose of a h ™, of a white elliptical 
, h0y catc b their prey, which is chiefly fish, by 
nai-p tL C °' V , n u Pp n them from above. The Italians com- 
fall n V j°. ent descent of these birds on their prey, to the 
V)iomV»‘ 6a< ^ ' nt ? water l a °d call them by the name of aquila 
P'ombina, or the leaden eagle. 
