BIRDS. 151 
weighs above twelve pounds. Its length, from the point 
of the beak to the end of the tail, is about three feet nine 
inches ; the breadth, when the wings are extended, is 
eight spans. The beak is horny, crooked, and very strong. 
The feathers of the neck are of a rusty colour, and the 
rest nearly black with lighter spots. The feet are feathered 
down to the claws, which have a wonderful grasp ; the 
leg is yellowish, and the four talons are crooked and 
strong. As in all birds of prey, the female is the larger, 
and more powerful. 
Eagles are remarkable for their longevity, and their 
faculty of sustaining a long abstinence from food. Of all 
birds the Eagle flies highest ; and from thence the ancients 
have given it the epithet of the bird of heaven. 
Bird of the broad and sweeping wing, 
Thy home is high in heaven, 
Where wide the storms their banners fling, 
And the tempest's clouds are driven. 
Thy throne is on the mountain top, 
Thy fields the boundless air ; 
And hoary peaks, that proudly prop 
The skies, thy dwellings are. 
This formidable animal may be considered among birds 
as the lion among quadrupeds ; and in many respects they 
have a strong similitude to each other. Solitary, like the 
lion, he keeps the wilds to himself alone ; it is as extra- 
ordinary to see two pairs of Eagles in the same mountain, 
as two lions in the same plain. 
The Eagle is found in Great Britain and Ireland, in 
Germany, and nearly all parts of Europe. He is car- 
nivorous, and, when unable to obtain the flesh of larger 
animals, he feeds on serpents and lizards. The story of 
the Eagle, brought to the ground after a severe conflict 
with a cat, which it had seized and taken up into the air 
with its talons, is very remarkable; Mr. Barlow, who 
