[ <5i ] 
CLASS II. 
BIRDS. 
-- — .g - - - - ■■ — r- ■ ■ ■ ■ l ■ ' - ■' " ' M ~ "T 1 '■it 1 " h " B 
DIV. I. Land Birds. 
GENUS I. Hawks. 
SPECIES I. The Golden Eagle. Tab. A. 
The Golden Eagle. JVil. orn. 58. 
Aquila aurea,feu fiilva. Raiifyn. av. 6. 
T HIS Ipecies is found in the mountanous 
parts of Ireland \ where it breeds in the 
loftieft cliffs: it lays three, and fome- 
times four eggs, of which feldom more 
than two are prolific ; providence denying a large 
increafe to rapacious birds *, becaufe they are 
noxious to mankind ; but gracioufly bellows an 
almoft boundlefs one on fuch as are of ufe to us. 
This kind of eagle fometimes migrates into Caer- 
narvonjhire , and there are inftances, tho’ rare, of 
their having bred in the Snowdon hills: from 
<D 
whence fome writers give that tradl the name of 
Creigiaifr eryrau , or the eagle rocks ; others that 
of Creigiau' r eira , or the fnowy rocks : the latter 
feems the more natural epithet ; it being more 
reafonable to imagine that thofe mountains, 
like Nip hates in Armenia , and Imaus %% in Tar* 
tary , derived their name from the circumflance of 
being covered with fnow, which is fure to befall 
them near the half of every year, than from the 
accidental appearance of a bird on them, once only 
in feveral years. 
The golden eagle weighs about twelve pounds; 
its length is three feet; the extent of its wings 
* Tuv yocpL']/b)v\)'X t Lov oXiyorcKcc 'sravjct Arift. hift. an, 
** Imaus -incolarum lingua nivofum fignificante. PUn, lib. 6 . c. 21. 
Aquila Chrylaetos. Lin. JyJt. 38. 
BriJJon av. 1. 431. 
feven feet four inches £ the bill is three inches 
long, and of a deep blue color; the cere is yellow : 
the irides of a hazel color : the fight and fenfe of 
fmelling are very acute : her eyes behold afar 
off f: the head and neck are cloathed with narrow 
(harp pointed feathers, and of a deep brown color, 
bordered with tawny; but thofe on the crown 
of the head, in very old birds turn grey. The 
whole body, above as well as beneath, is of a dark 
brown; and the feathers on the back, are finely 
clouded with a deeper fhaae of the fame : the 
wings, when clos’d, reach to the end of the tail : 
the quill feathers are of a chocolate color, the 
lhafts white: the tail is of a deep brown, irregu¬ 
larly barred and blotched with an obfcure afh co¬ 
lor : the legs are yellow, fhort, and very ftrong, 
being three inches in circumference, and are 
feathered to the very feet: the toes are covered 
with large fcales, and armed with moll formidable 
claws, the middle of which are two inches long. 
The eagles in general are very deftru£live to 
fawns, lambs, kids, and all kind of game ; parti¬ 
cularly in the breeding feafon, when they bring 
vaft quantity of prey to their young. Smith , 
P in 
f J°b- 39. 27. Where the natural hiftory of the eagle is finely 
drawn up. 
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