540 
BIRD-LIFE. 
In the winter the Eblingen hunters place the bait on 
the ground, where the meat is pegged to the turf with 
wooden skewers, so as to prevent its being easily carried 
away: they choose as flat a spot as possible, as the 
Eagle then finds greater difficulty in getting on the 
wing. They often use roast cat as bait, a morsel much 
sought after by birds of prey, the fragrance of which 
can be scented from afar: the place baited is selected 
so as to be within sight of their chalets on the banks 
of the lake below; there they every now and again 
step to the window, and have a look round with the 
“ glass,” when they expect an Eagle at the bait. If 
they see one approaching they have then an hour’s climb 
before them amongst rocks and bushes : the game, how¬ 
ever, rarely escapes them; for when the Eagle has once 
dropped on the carrion, it will remain there for hours; 
and when well gorged it generally loses its usual caution. 
The hunters of that district will spend the whole day in 
this sport. They assert that the flight of the Eagle is 
higher than that of the Lammergeir ; the former may 
often be seen soaring above the peak of the Wetterhorn. 
If there is no chance of getting a Golden Eagle, the 
hunters transfer their attention to the Osprey, which is 
commoner on the shores of the lake. 
The Eagle is nowhere so systematically sought after 
as at Eblingen, though it is persecuted everywhere; partly 
on account of the depredations it commits, and partly for 
the sake of gaining the reputation of having shot this 
noble bird. In favourable localities the Eagle is some¬ 
times trapped in a powerful gin; still success is rather to 
be attributed, in this case, to good fortune than to skill. 
To those who can keep it, the Golden Eagle in con¬ 
finement is the source of much satisfaction, for it is a 
