Golden eagle

“ For hours the golden eagle will soar in the air high above the mountain-tops, and move in wide-sweeping circles with a scarcely perceptible motion of its mighty wings. When on the hunt for prey, it is very cunning and sharp-sighted. Its shrill scream rings through the air, filling all the smaller birds with terror. When it approaches its victim its scream changes to a quick kik-kak-kak, resembling the barking of a dog, and gradually sinking until sufficiently near, it darts in a straight line with the rapidity of lightning upon its prey. ”

“ He was my first golden eagle, in some respects one of the noblest of all North American birds. I knew him to be not uncommon in the mountains, and had hoped some day to see him passing, especially when I should be far out on the edge of [221] the foothills; and behold, here he was on my idle afternoon, close at home. Who says that the lame and the lazy are not provided for?
My dreamy saunter was turning out ornithological in spite of myself, and as if the gnatcatcher and the eagle had not done enough to that end, the ubiquitous raven now took a hand at the business. ”

“ S the lion is called the king of beasts, so the eagle is called the king of birds; but except that it is bigger, stronger, and swifter than other birds, there does not seem much reason for the name. It is a mistake to attribute noble or mean qualities to animals or birds, or to think they can do good or bad actions, when they can only do what God has created them to do, and as their instinct teaches.
The most powerful of the eagles is the Golden Eagle, so called because of the rich yellowish-brown bordering to its feathers. ”

“ The great golden eagle is one of the most distinguished members of its mighty family. It is found in many parts of the world, a kingly inhabitant of mountainous regions, where it builds its nest on rocky crags accessible only to the most daring hunter. ”

“ The eagles live together, if not in harmony, at least in a sort of mutual respect towards each other. I know of only one quarrel, and at this I happened to be present. A sea eagle pounced on a golden eagle ; the latter threw itself on its back, when the former with its talons seized it by the legs until it seemed to faint in agony, while the assailant gave forth its loudest barking cry in triumph. I had some difficulty in beating this bird off the other with a pole ; it was removed from the cage. ”

“ This bird at once became attached to its owner, and after being about a month in his possession, was given full liberty, — a high privilege to a golden eagle having the use of its wings, — but which was not abused, as it came to the lure whenever called. It evidently derived much pleasure from the application of the hand to its legs and plumage,, and permitted itself to be handled in any way. ”

“ A nearly cosmopolitan bird is the Golden Eagle, (Aquila chrysaetos) . It is equally at home in the highlands of Scotland and the mountains of North America, nesting on the highest cliffs.
The Bateleur Eagle, of Africa, (Helotarsus ecaudatus) , has narrowly missed the distinction of being the most beautiful of all birds of prey. Its plumage is charmingly colored but it is out of proportion. Its tail is so absurdly short that its wings quite conceal it, and make it appear as if altogether tailless. ”

“ The golden eagle is no longer found in England, but is still plentiful in the Scottish Highlands, where it makes its nest on some lofty ledge of rock among the mountain solitudes. Swiss naturalists state that it sometimes nests in the lofty crotch of some gigantic oak growing on the lower mountain slopes, but Audubon and other eminent ornithologists declare that an eagle's nest built in a tree has never come under their observation. ”

“ Foremost amongst these the visitor will remark the athletic golden eagle of Europe, a frequenter of Great Britain. This bird preys upon hares and rabbits, and has been known to plant its claws in a young lamb with success. In this vicinity are also the Indian Pondicherry eagle, sacred to the Brahmins; the Egyptian booted eagle; the Brazilian eagle; the South American harpy eagle; the European Jean le Blanc eagle; the marine eagle of the Indian Archipelago; the South American crested goshawk; the varieties of the osprey; and the short-tailed falcon from the Cape of Good Hope. ”

“ With one bound and a flap of their gigantic wings they were on me, and had it not been for Tomerl, who was standing just behind me armed with a stout cudgel, I should have paid dearly for my incautious visit.
I know of no instance where human skill has subdued in the slightest degree the haughty spirit of the free-born golden eagle. An untamable ferocity is the predominating characteristic of this noble bird, more than of any other animal. Circling majestically among the fleeting clouds, he reigns lord paramount over his vast domain, avoiding the sight and resenting the approach of man. ”

“ Footnote 6 Flaherty, in his West or H-Iar Connanght, written in 1684, and published by the Irish Archaeological Society in 1846, remarks at p. 12: — "Here is a kind of black eagle, which kills the deere by grappling him with his claw, and forcing him to run headlong into precipices." The golden eagle being a bold bird, as well as darker coloured than the sea eagle, is, I presume, meant. ”

“ The Golden Eagle is a truly magnificent bird in size and appearance. A full-grown female measures about three feet six inches in length, and the expanse of her wings is nine feet. The male bird is smaller by nearly six inches. The colour of the bird is a rich blackish brown on the greater part of the body, the head and neck being covered with feathers of a golden red, which have earned for the bird its customary name. ”

“ This species is very dark in hue, and is known in Scotland as the ‘black eagle.’ The colour is a very deep brown, the feathers of the head and nape tinged with reddish gold—hence its name of golden eagle. It preys on hares, rabbits, grouse, ptarmigan, and other birds, and occasionally destroys lambs and fawns, and will even attack full-grown ewes and deer. ”

“ On another occasion, a golden eagle was found in the bath, or large trough in which the eagles delight to roll ; it was supposed by the keeper to have been forced under water by one of the sea eagles, but more probably it got cramped, as the birds seem often to carry their bathing to excess. It is a remarkable fact, that a sea eagle but one year old, seemed to be generally acknowledged as the superior of the whole. This bird seized the first piece of food thrown into the cage as its acknowledged right ”

“ The White-tailed Eagle builds its nest on high rocks, and lays two eggs, about the same size of those of the Golden Eagle, but with very little or no red color on the white ground. The young are at first covered with a soiled white down, and even at this age the beaks and claws of the eaglets are of very large size. A pair of Golden Eagles have been known to rear their young in the same spot for eight seasons in succession ”

“ Like the claws and tongue of the lion, the beak and claws of the eagle are commonly painted of a second colour in all but very small representations. Thus the golden eagle of Lymesey in a red field may have blue beak and claws, and golden beak and claws will be given to Jorce’s silver eagle upon red. A lure, or two wings joined and spread like those of an eagle, is a rare charge sometimes found. When fitted with the cord by which a falconer’s lure is swung, the cord must be named.
Monthermer bore “Gold an eagle vert.” ”

“ In “Notes by an Old Stalker” in the Field for September 9, 1922 (p. 370) there appears the following interesting account of a duel between a golden eagle and a peregrine which the writer himself witnessed:
“Although by a long way our most powerful bird, the eagle is by no means a match for some [62] much smaller combatants. Once I saw an eagle soaring placidly along when from a range of precipices immediately below him a falcon shot up into the air. Without a moment’s hesitation he attacked the giant bird. ”

“ Eagles are found in every country where there are mountains. In Ireland, and sometimes in England and Scotland, the large golden eagle is found, and is a very fine bird. In America there is an eagle called the Bird of Washington, which is so large that its wings spread out from seven to ten feet. The [9] body of the bird is not so very much larger than a goose; but, as this eagle can fly as many as 140 miles in an hour, it wants very large strong wings to bear it onwards. The North American Indians—you have heard of them, have you not?—fine handsome looking men they are, though copper-coloured ”

“ The genus Aquĭla, which includes the most typical eagles, is distinguished by its long and powerful bill, the curve commencing at the cere, by its wings reaching to the tip of the tail, and by its tarsi being feathered to the toes. The imperial eagle (A. mogilnik) of Central Europe, North-East Africa, India, and China is probably the species to which the popular belief in the courage, strength, and nobleness of eagles is to be traced. A. chrysaëtus, the golden eagle, is the chief British species. ”

“ The golden eagle, which is one of the largest, is nearly four feet from the point of the beak to the end of the tail. He is found in most parts of Europe, and is also met with in America. High rocks and ruined and lonely towers are the places which he chooses for his abode. ”

“ The Eagles are widely scattered. They are birds of lofty and powerful, but not rapid flight. From the latter circumstance, they usually prefer to strike their prey on the ground, the weight of their bodies rendering them unfitted for pursuing a flying prey through its quick and tortuous evolutions. They breed in solitude, on the inaccessible crags of precipitous mountains.
The Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos, Linn.) is the noblest species of the whole Family, for size, strength, and courage. ”

“ The Golden Eagle, and the White-headed Eagle, are comparatively insignificant; and if its habits correspond to its powerful organization, as may safely be presumed, it is one of the most destructive of the rapacious birds. ”

“ Owing to the great difficulty in training them, as well as to the difficulty in obtaining them, eagles have rarely been trained to the chase in England. Some years since, Captain Green, of Buckden, in Huntingdonshire, had a fine golden eagle, which he had taught to take hares and rabbits;38 and this species has been found to be more tractable than any other. ”

“ Selby's birds, remarks, that in the menageries of the Garden of the Zoological Society of London, where there are two golden and four white-tailed eagles, the keepers find the former the more tractable of the two species. Footnote 11 At Aberarder, in this county, I saw a golden eagle displayed among the numerous "winged vermin" on the gable end of the shooting lodge, in September, 1842. Footnote 12 Birds up to the size of sparrows are eaten whole by the golden eagle ; three s parrows have been taken in succession without a feather being plucked off. ”

“ Many an eagle have I shot feeding on the carcass of an unfortunate hill bullock, which, either through stupidity or fright, had tumbled over a precipice; and never, during the many years I shot over all parts of these hills, do I remember seeing a golden eagle pounce on or carry away a living prey.
The Tartar shepherds near the snow informed me that during the lambing season the eagles were very troublesome. If a ewe dropped a sickly lamb, and left it, the eagle would attack it, but never attempted to stoop to carry away a live one, or one that followed its mother. ”

“ This last character distinguishes them at once from their nearest allies—the sea-eagles of the genus Haliaëtus. Nine species of true eagles are well distinguished, although in this, as in allied genera, much confusion has arisen from the diversity of plumage at different ages. Only one of them occurs in North America. This is the golden eagle (Aquila chrysaëtus) , of which the ‘ring-tailed’ eagle is the young. It is 30 to 35 inches in length, and 61⁄2 to 7 feet in spread of wing; the female is rather larger than the male. ”

“ A sporting friend, who was eye-witness to the fact, assures me that when out hunting among the Belfast mountains many years ago, an eagle, which from the darkness of its plumage he concluded was the golden, appeared above his hounds as they came to fault after a good chase, on the ascent to Devis, the highest of the range. ”

“ Sound madder is of an oily feel and a sweet smell, and is bright in colour; that which resembles brick-dust is bad, and gives no colour. The madder that is the best may be discovered easily by the taste.—Ancient Recipe.
Golden, a. Made of gold, consisting of gold; shining; yellow, of the colour of gold; valuable.
Golden Eagle. Vide Eagle.
The golden eagle is said to be not unfrequent in the mountainous parts of Ireland and Scotland. It breeds in the most inaccessible rocks, and lays three or four white eggs, Selby says two, of a greyish white colour, clouded with spots of reddish brown. ”

“ In contour, bill, eyes, legs, &c, it is a miniature of the golden eagle, but about one-third less than a male of that species ; except the tail-coverts and some spots on the wings and breast, it is entirely of a very deep glossy blackish- brown : the body is of small size, comparatively with the head, wings, and tail. ”

“ When visiting about the same time the precipitous mountain of Rosheen, near Dunfanaghy, in that county, I was told that for a long time previous to the preceding twelve years, a pair of eagles had built their eyrie in one of the inaccessible cliffs.The situation selected for this eyrie indicates that the species was most probably the golden eagle. ”

“ We were assured, that two eagles will occasionally pursue a hare, one flying low and coursing it along the ground, the other keeping perpendicularly above the terrified animal, and occasionally changing their places, until the hare is completely wearied out. The same circumstance was mentioned a few days afterwards at Tralee, and again at Monasterevan : my informant in every instance stated the fact, not as a matter of hearsay, but as one which had fallen under his own knowledge." Footnote 7 The golden eagle has now become very scarce in Kerry. ”