is said to have been “ as black as a Hobby, of the shape of
a Gosliaivk, of almost the weight of a Goose, rough-footed, or
feathered down to the foot, having a white ring about the
tail.”
As regards its occurrence in England at the present day,
numerous instances are on record, but it is certain that the
White-tailed Eagle has often been mistaken for it; and it is not
possible always to determine where this error has been made.
One of the best-authenticated, as well as the most recent cases,
however, is that published by Mr. Henry Stevenson, in ‘ The
Zoologist’ for 1869 (p. 1863), from which it is clear that a
Golden Eagle was found dead at Stiffkey, in Norfolk, in
November, 1868.
In Ireland, this fine bird, according to the late Mr.
Thompson, “ inhabits permanently several of the most lofty
and retired mountain ranges” throughout the island ; but
it is to be feared that since his time Eagles of both species
have become far rarer. In the wilder parts of Mayo and
Donegal, however, the Golden Eagle probably still breeds,
though in the county last mentioned it was believed that
a few years since only a single pair remained. The well-
known “ Eagle’s Nest” at Killarney—whether formerly
occupied by this species or the White-tailed Eagle—has
been long deserted; hut it is possible that some of the hilly
tracts of the south are still tenanted by the Golden Eagle,
whence, and from the more northern localities, examples
may wander to other parts of Ireland. Smith, in his
‘History of Kerry,’ relates that a poor man in that county
got a comfortable subsistence for his family during a
summer famine out of an Eagle’s nest, by robbing the
Eaglets of part of the food brought by their parents,
whose attendance he protracted beyond the natural time by
clipping the wings, and thus retarding the flight, of the
young birds.
The Golden Eagle is not found in Iceland; but, with
this exception, it inhabits and breeds in suitable localities
in nearly all the countries of Europe, from Lapland to
Sicily, and from Portugal to Bulgaria. In Asia it occurs
throughout Tartary and Siberia (excepting its northern
parts) to Dauuria; its southern limit so far to the east
being the Himalayas, where, according to Mr. Jerdon, it
is found hut rarely, and not elsewhere in India. In
Palestine it is very common in winter, and occasionally at
the same season occurs in Arabia and Egypt, penetrating
even to Abyssinia. In Algeria it breeds as far south as
the Atlas, while, in winter it frequents the Dayats of the
Desert.
North America is inhabited by an Eagle which, though
regarded by many naturalists as a distinct species, and
named Aquila canadensis, is, in the opinion of Mr. John
Henry Gurney (than whom on this subject there can be no
better authority), not distinguishable by any constant character
from the A. chrysaetus of the Old World. Of this
bird Wilson, in his ‘American Ornithology,’ states that
it is found from the temperate to the arctic regions, particularly
in the latter, breeding on high precipitous rocks,
always preferring a mountainous country. Sir John Richardson
considers that it is seldom seen in North America far to
the eastward of the Rocky Mountains.
In the whole extent of its range there seems to be but
little difference in its habits. In some countries it is less
of a rock-haunting bird than in the British Islands. Thus
in Lapland its nest, according to Mr. Wolley’s experience,
is always placed in a somewhat large tree. In the Atlas, a
cliff is rather the commoner position, though an arboreal site
is frequently chosen.
The flight of the Golden Eagle is described by those who
have witnessed it as majestic and powerful in the extreme ;
and from the great strength of the bird, it preys with ease
on fawns, lambs, hares, and other game. It feeds much,
however, on carrion, and this habit gives great facility for its
destruction. Montagu relates, that “ when sporting in the
neighbourhood of Ben-Lomond, on the summit of the lesser
mountains that form its base, a Grouse was wounded, and
flew with difficulty eighty or an hundred paces. An Eagle,
apparently of this species, perceiving the laborious flight of