  This magnificent bird has only been preserved to us as a breeding species owing to the strict protection afforded to the deer in the Highlands and some of the outlying islands off the west coast of Scotland. Thanks to this, it is slightly on the increase in some places, though, as it meets with a speedy death should it trespass over a grouse moor, it can never become generally common. It is a truly grand bird to watch as it soars and circles over the few miles of country to which it claims suzerain rights, and eminently worthy of protection as an object of natural beauty. The eyrie, which is resorted to year after year, is placed on the ledge of a crag or more rarely in a tree. It is a vast accumulation of sticks, to which additions are made every year, and is lined with tufts of grass. The eggs, usually two in number, are bluish white, marked to a greater or lesser extent with reddish brown. Its food consists chiefly of mountain hares, though it also takes birds, lambs, and occasionally the fawns of the deer; but although it does sometimes take grouse, they do not form its chief food, and certainly the numbers taken are not sufficient to warrant its destruction. GOLDEN EAGLE It does not chase its prey, but having marked them down, pounces on them as they lie. In Ireland a few pairs still breed in the wilder parts of the north and west, but elsewhere in our islands it is very rarely seen, as it is not given to wandering far from its accustomed haunts. In England it is exceedingly rare, most of the reported occurrences being immature examples of the next species. The general colour is a uniform dark brown, tawny on the nape. Except in its larger size, the female resembles the male. Young birds may be distinguished by the white bases to the outer tail feathers. Length about 23 in.; wing 24 in. |
|
