LONGEVITY OF THE EAGLE. 
33 
eyrie. To his amazement, a marten was suckling her 
kittens in comfortable enjoyment.”* 
The allusion above made to the “ princely eggs,” 
reminds us of the princely bird which laid them, and 
those who have read the works of Shakespeare—and who 
has not ?—must doubtless remember the beautiful simile 
uttered by Warwick when dying on the field of Barnet:— 
“ Thus yields the cedar to the axe’s edge, 
Whose arms gave shelter to the princely eagle.” 
Henry VI. Part III. Act v. Sc. 2. 
The conscious superiority of the eagle is depicted by 
Tamora, who tells us :— 
“ The eagle suffers little birds to sing, 
And is not careful what they mean thereby, 
Knowing that with the shadow of his wing 
He can at pleasure stint their melody.” 
Titus Andronicus, Act iv. Sc. 4. 
The great age to which this bird sometimes attains has 
been remarked by most writers on Ornithology. The 
Psalmist has beautifully alluded to it where he says of the 
righteous man,—“ His youth shall be renewed like the 
eagle’s.” A golden eagle, which had been nine years in 
the possession of Mr. Owen Holland, of Conway, lived 
thirty-two years with the gentleman who made him a 
* Colquhoun, “The Moor and the Loch,” p. 330. And this is not an isolated 
instance. See Newton, “ Ootheca Wolleyana,” Part I. p. 11. 
F 
