AlQUILA' CHRYSAETOS, Brú
.I.WolfandJ/C
AQUILA CHRYSAETOS, b™.
Golden Eagle.
Falco chrysaetos, Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 126.
fiilviis, Linn. Syst. Nat.,; tom. i. p. 125.
Aquila chrysaetos, Briss. Om , tom. i, p. 431.
- • Barthelemyi, Jaub.
As civilization advances, tin- noble bird, the lord of óur ancient forests, will either become extirpated or
driven to seek :< . asvlern in parts of the country where nature still preserves a savage aspect. High
cultivation and its presence are incompatible ; the lamb and the Eagle can never dwell together in p eace;
neither can the fitwn o r the roebuck live without molestation within the range of its haunts. The Highland
shepherd and the keeper therefore do their utmost to destroy i t ; and the time is probably not far distant
whdn'i! will no longer have a place in the avifauna o f the British Islands: hence a bird so frequently referred
to in the Sacred Writings, which has ever been the theme o f the poets, which some of the most powerful
nations of the earth have employed as an emblem of their majesty and greatness, the iliglit-fcatliers of
which are worn for the like reason in the bonnet of the Highland chieftain, and whose tail-feathers are
employed by the sanguinary Indian to bedeck his head when dressed in battle array, will be entirely lost to
lls a loss which would, I am su n . be a source o f regret to every one who has a taste for nature; and 1
therefore hope th at our great landed proprietors will exert their influence to preserve the remnant of our
Golden Eagles. - To effect this, however, without some combined efforts, will, I fear, be impracticable; but
as ,1 love for and interest in the welfare o f our indigenous animals is now animating the breasts of many
among tis,_l trust -that it will, for the future, rather be the object of protection than, as at present, of foolish
destruction; if it be, 1 fed assured that none other than the best results will follow. The Blue Hare, now
so numerous, will furnish it wiih an abundance of food, and thus the numbers o f an animal which of late years.
has increased to inch an extent as to have become a pest, will be diminished, and the balance of animal life,
which the wanton destruction of our birds of prey has disturbed, will again be in part restored. That the
Eagle, the Kestrel, and the Owl. ara essentially necessary to the equalization o f the numbers of our indigenous
mammals is certain ; and this 1 shall have constantly to speak o f in the coarse of the present work.
To show the amount of destruction dealt out to this noble bird and the Sea Eagle, the Suti.erlamlsh.re
Expedition of Naturalists state that the number o f Eagles paid for between March 1831 and March 1834
was 171, besides 3 3 nestlings or eg g s : and a gamekeeper ill the south-west of that county trapped 15 Eagles
in three months of 1847, and almost as many in the winter o f 1850-51.
In times post the Golden Eagle was the regular denizen of all the hilly and mountainous districts
o f England, particularly those of Derbyshire, Cumberland, and Westmoreland, many parts o f Wales,
the whole of Scotland and Ireland, including their islands; it is now only found in Argyll, Sutherland,
and Ross shires in Scotland, the islands o f Orkney and Skye, and the counties of Donegal, Kerry,
and Mayo in Ireland, Up to the last year ( I HIM), two eyries atSleast were to be seen on the
Black Mount, the property o f the late Marquis of Breadalbane, who made it a line qua non that bis
foresters should at any time show bint an Eagle; were this laudable conduct imitated by other
enlightened proprietors 'we ehottM not have occasion to lament the gradual disappearance o f this nphlt;
birtl° It' is om of Un o- -vrira that is represented in the fine drawing made by Mr. Wolf, from which the
accompanying Plate w„. taken Its more frequent haunts arc in such districts as those mentioned; but the
bird is often to be met with rotkv situations in the neighbourhood o f the sea, wherever it is likely to
obtain ■■ abundance o f food Although I have stated th at the Golden Eagle is now confined to a limited
area it i.iw*t not be undei t .W .that examples are not occasionally found in many or, indeed, id nearly
cvorv Em i ■ Io an n ; these .■Italic -¡tors are, however, in almost all instances, birds of the year, or not
more than . ■ years old : they arc probably the offspring of parents resident in Scotland : but -hey may be
migrants from ' . . way, Sweden, or « h e r distant countries ; for it is well known that the yOitttg r f b o t h «
great Eagles 1 1 Ixirflrttrr to a law which appears to influence the whole o f the l'alconiih--, na
from their nat!«v leu»,- than the *duH. were these birds allowed to remain niintolc.-icd '■ cad t f mg
ruthlessly shoi it.f, m nuld doubtless tvtire northward a t the proper season, and Jornt gfries for rat
What a re tin' a.-r countries inhabited by this fine b ird ? is a questiou tvlii/i will naturally h e asked by
many of my readers : In which 1 would answer, that it is found throughout th/ivliole of » tro p e , but is more
numerous aniimg the Alps, the Pyrenees, and other mountainous p a r t s / f the Continent, from Ita y to
Norway, than,in the lowlands of Holland and many parts of Germany, wjtfch Inner countries,-