like England, occasionally visited by the young birds. Out of Europe, the Atlas range of mountains 
in North Africa is one of its places of abode, while in the East it frequents the great ranges of the 
Himalayas, and doubtless the Steppes of Tartary ; for it is probably the “ Bear-coot ” so frequently spoken 
of by Atkinson, as standing at the tents of the wandering Kirgliises and other tribes of that country. Mr. 
Gurney has no doubt that it also frequents all the countries of North America that are favourable to its 
habits, from Labrador to Texas, hut believes that it is never found on the Pacific side of that continent. 
Ihe powers of flight of this king of British birds are commensurate with its large size and ample wings. 
It may often he seen in fine weather sailing to a vast height toward the blue vault of heaven, apj)arently 
for no other purpose than that of pleasure ; and its evolutions are graceful and majestic while thus engaged ; 
at other times it may be observed hunting the hill-side in couples and in concert, one flying directly over 
their intended prey, and the other following near the ground ; and it has been known to stoop and carry 
off a hare from before the hounds. Such is the alarm its presence creates, that the swift-flying Golden 
Plover and the fleet Mountain-Hare appear as if spell-bound when overshadowed by the wings of their 
terrible enemy. It preys alike upon Grouse, black game, Curlews, Partridges, and Plovers among birds, 
to which may be added the flesh of hares, rabbits, lambs, fawns, moles, and carrion of all kinds, particularly 
stranded sheep, fatally struck deer, &c. ; and I see no reason for doubting the possibility or pro- 
bability of its occasionally pouncing upon and carrying off a sleeping infant or she})herd’s child, if left 
unprotected on the hill-side : many such occurrences have been recorded, and doubtless some of them are 
founded in truth. Lord Hill informs me, on the authority of the shepherds on his fine estate in Ross-shire, 
that the Golden Eagle, while hunting the hill-side, will frequently swoop down upon a lamb, playfully take 
it uj) in its talons, and drop it again, and then another and another, apparently trifling with its victim after the 
manner of a cat with a mouse. The shepherds also assert that it occasionally takes the lambs over to the 
smaller islands between the maiidand and Skye ; and as no sheep are kept on those islands, there can he no 
doubt that the lambs occasionally found there are thus conveyed thither. 
The situations selected by the Golden Eagle for the purposes of nidification are very varied : sometimes a 
hold precipitous overhanging rock is selected ; at others merely an escarpment on the hill-side, where, 
without any great amount of prowess or trouble on the part of the collector, the nest may he robbed 
of its eggs or young ; at other times, and doubtless formerly more frequently than at present, the large 
stump or forked branch of a towering tree is chosen for the site of its large plateau of sticks, branches of 
heather, and other materials, the centre being usually formed of finer substances, such as wmol, moss, fern- 
grass, and tufts of Liizula sijlvatica. If left unmolested, the birds frequently resort to the same eyrie for 
years, annually adding fresh materials, until at length, like the huge structures of their representative the 
Wedge-tailed Eagle of Australia, the nests become of gigantic dimensions. The eggs, mostly two and 
sometimes three in number, vary considerably in their markings, some being of a nearly uniform dull 
white, while others are most beautifully blotched and clouded wdth grey and hrowm over a light stone- 
coloured ground. To give a minute description of any one egg would answer no good end, they are so 
variable ; the reader will find some splendid varieties figured in Mr. Hewitson’s fine w’ork on the eggs of our 
native birds, and in the ‘ Ootheca Wolleyana.’ Those who take especial interest in British oology should 
endeavour to gain access to the eollection formed by the late Mr. John Wolley, which w^as bequeathed 
by him to Alfred Newton, Esq., and contains a very large series of the eggs of this species. Besides 
varying so much in colour, the eggs also differ considerably in size and shape; Mr. Alfred Newton informs 
me that the largest egg in his collection measures 3’23 inches by ■2'59, and the smallest 2*85 by 2T6. 
When first hatched, the eaglets are covered with white down, in which state they remain for a considerable 
period, day by day increasing in strength and stature; brown stub feathers next begin to appear in their 
wings and tail ; and if the eggs have been hatched about the usual time the end of April, the summer has 
far advanced before they have gained sufficient powder to exercise their pinions. 
The young, during the first two years of their existence, present a marked difference from the adult in the 
colouring of the tail, — the basal three-fourths of its length being white, and the apical fourth of a rich brown, 
wdiich has obtained for the bird the trivial name of the Ring-tailed Eagle. As they increase in age, the 
white gradually daikens into the hue of the tip; and when fully adult, the tail is of a uniform dark brown, 
except at the base, where it is marbled with grey. 
The female, as is usual Avlth birds of prey, is by far the largest, often attaining a wnight of fourteen pounds. 
When adult, the whole of the body and wings are of a dark rich vinous brown ; the lanceolate feathers 
clothing the head and neck rich golden brown ; tarsi, wdiich are covered with feathers to the toes, greyish 
wdiite ; tail the same as the body, except at the base, wdiere it is grey marbled with brown ; hill horn-colour ; 
cere and toes yellow ; irides brown. 
The front figure of the Plate represents the bird about one-third of the size of life, taken from an example 
about three or four years old. 
