Fresh October brings the pheasant; THE GOLDEN EAGLE. THUS spoke the Golden Eagle to the little boy, who loved to watch the birds, and learn their names and their strange modes of life :— "And must I come down, too? Must the proud golden eagle stoop down from his eyrie on the ledge of the steep sea-cliff, and submit to be questioned by a child? You have been looking towards me, I know, a great part of the day. I have seen your curious eye vainly trying to spy out my ways and my doings; but the sun blinded you, and the distance was too much for you; so, though I have had you before me the whole time, you have scarcely been able to say that you have seen me yet. Yes; I will come down, for what harm can you do me? and why should you not learn what you desire? But the rushing of my wings, if I were to descend with all my force near you, would be a startling thing; so you shall first see me sail in my majesty over the valley. "There! Am I not indeed a noble creature? How I ride in the high air, glorying in my might! I am not thinking of my prey now. I am only sailing idly along for your amusement and my own pleasure, enjoying the calm sky and this bright sun, and caring nothing for what is doing upon earth. "Would you see me in my terrible hour, when I have marked out some poor animal for my own, as I sail through the air above it? You shall, then; but you must have a quick eye, and not a cowardly heart; and you must remember that, though I cannot live without slaughter, I am a very merciful destroyer. One stroke of my powerful talons is often enough to end the sufferings of the animal I would kill. Do you see yonder hare, gliding along from one covert to another? I shall have him; but I must mount higher. Down, down !—a moment, and it is over; and here I am again, bearing off the prey to my eaglets. I cannot invite you to my eyrie : it is much too high for you to climb to; and, could you reach it, the footing is slippery, and the river runs dark and deep underneath. Sharp points of rock jut out on every side, to keep off intruders. To you, it would seem a forlorn and cheerless place; to me, it is a happy ancient home. It is merely a platform on yonder rock. Large sticks arranged in rows make our floor, and turf and rushes are our carpet. If the rock projects over our heads, making a sort of cave for us, we do not object to its shelter; but we do not seek it, for few can bear cold and storms as we can. "What are you gazing at above my head? My mate, I should judge, by the sound in the air; for though I could see her, and could see you, my little boy, ever so far below me, if you were above me, but for a little distance, you would be safe from my eye. This projecting curtain, this eye-brow, that has been given me, is a shade, that both protects my eye from the sun, and guards my prey when above me from my attacks. "I was born in an eyrie far from this wild mountain; but the nest itself was like this one in which I rear my own young; only the sea was nearer to us there than it is here, and in a winter's night, the sound of the roaring waters dashing under us made the place more grand. My father and mother were a noble pair. I have seen other eagles since, but never a bird, I think, so large as my mother. From tip to tip of her wings, she measured upwards of ten feet; and she was three feet and a half long. My father was smaller; but both of them were remarkable for the size and strength of their legs and claws. I cannot tell how many years my parents had lived in this nest before I came into the world-perhaps fifty or sixty. I know that many pairs of birds have been sent forth by them to find dwellings for themselves where they could; and this was the reason why my mate and I were obliged to come so far from home, before we could meet with a quiet mountain all to ourselves. There were three eggs in the nest at the time my mate and I were hatched; but one of them, I believe, rolled out of the nest. At first our bodies were covered with a yellowish down, after which feathers began to grow; but it was three or four years before our plumage resembled in colour and strength that of our parents; though now I am the very image of my mother-the same rich browns with their coppery lustre; the same free, powerful command of every limb. "My mate and I were nursed in our parents' nest for a whole summer, during all which time nothing could exceed the kindness of our father and mother. At first my mother kept chiefly within, and my father went abroad for food for her and for us; but, as we grew bigger and stronger, he enticed my mother abroad, for he did not like his lonely flights, and wished her to be his companion whenever she could. Sometimes he remained at home, and she went alone, as I have now left my mate to come and talk with you. We did not mind being left alone; nothing could harm us in the nest, and we never dreamed of any ill happening to our parents; but it was a pleasant moment when we heard the rush of their wings at a distance, and then the gentle sweep before they landed. What a broad shadow they spread betwixt us and the sun! "My mother had some fears, lest at any time, in her absence, we should venture too near the edge of the nest, and fall down the precipice; but we were much too cowardly for that. We were well fed all this time; poultry, game, rabbits, and young lambs were brought in abundance to us; and sometimes our larder was even overstocked. So time passed on, and summer went away, and autumn brought shortened days, and sometimes a chilly blast. Then our parents began to cast altered looks upon us, and we heard them whispering together, and agreeing that it was high time to drive us away, lest the winter should come suddenly upon them, when they could not well provide both for us and for themselves. A day or two after this we found the matter was settled; that we were no longer to lie still in our quiet nest, but to be pushed out of it, and launched upon the wide space beneath us. Trust me, though many, many years have passed, I have not forgotten that day; and though we soon learned to enjoy our freedom, it was a terrible moment when we found our kind parents' hearts turned against us, and felt their powerful talons put forth to drag us from the nest. "I know all that passed up to the moment when I was about to be pushed from my clinging hold on the rock. After that, terror took away all my faculties, and I can only tell you that in a few moments I found myself, to my surprise, resting upon my mother's back in the air. Though she had forced me forward, she had not deserted D me. Swift as lightning she had darted under me, and now bore me upon her wings. What a joy it was to find her near and how ashamed I felt at the thought, that a doubt of her love and care had ever come upon me! "My courage revived as I felt the fresh air, and saw how nobly my mother rode through the vast expanse. Then again she slipped from beneath me; and this time I stretched my wings, and found them far more powerful than I expected. Ere the day was over my young mate and I felt the enjoyment of our own powers, and caught much of our parents' spirit. Our eye, indeed, wanted practice; we could not see so promptly, or direct our flight towards our prey in so unerring a manner, as afterwards. But these powers our parents knew would soon develop; and when they were satisfied that we were able to provide for ourselves, they soared back to their deserted nest, leaving us, as we well understood, to our own resources. "It was not long before we came here. On our way we touched at many promising spots; but they were all occupied. Every beetling crag had its pair of eagles, and none were disposed to yield possession to a young couple like us; so that we saw it was necessary to go further and further from the parent-eyrie. Here, then, we came, and here we have reared many a brood, and lived for very many summers. How many would you suppose? More, probably, than you will ever number. A hundred years have seen us lords of this mountain; and even now you find I am neither dull of sight nor heavy of wing. I have one anxiety certainly in my heart, and my good mate has the same. We have lived so long together that we think our time must be drawing to a close, and if one goes first, the other does not know how to bear the thought of being left sole survivor. Farewell, my dear boy; and |