Africa, the last being slaty-black above, and having a plain brown chest. The typical Eagle, the bird of Jove, the emblem of Rome and of St. John, was some species of _Aquila_. _A. chrysaëtus_, the Golden or Black Eagle, is exceptionally shot in England in winter–especially in the north; but it is the Sea Eagle that occurs most frequently. In North Britain the former has bred in increasing numbers since protection has been given in deer-forests, where it kills the grouse which startle the stalker's game; a few pairs remain in North and West Ireland; while in times past it ranged to the Peak of Derbyshire or even Snowdon. Abroad it occupies most of Europe, North Asia to India and China, North Africa, and North America to Mexico. Powerful and fierce by nature, and ready to attack animals of considerable size, it never molests man under ordinary circumstances; both parents, it is true, circle anxiously round when the young are in danger, but should the nest contain eggs, the hen, which sits closely, vanishes at once on leaving them. She does not reappear until all risk seems past, while the cock is seldom sighted at the eyry, though usually seen in the vicinity. The prey consists of antelopes, wolves, foxes, fawns, lambs, hares, rabbits, marmots, geese, ducks, grouse, and so forth, with carrion, if sufficiently fresh; the ground is often quartered at a low elevation, and wonderfully rapid in the chase is the flight of this apparently slow and ponderous bird, aided by its extraordinarily keen powers of vision. Solitary individuals may occasionally be approached by stalking, but in Britain they are generally wary, owing to constant {162}disturbance; they may, however, often be seen circling aloft or winging their way to great distances, while they can hardly be distinguished from Buzzards in misty weather even by experienced keepers. Captures are made with the talons, but Eagles are comparatively seldom trained for Falconry; yet the present species has been so used in Europe, as well as by the Kirgiz Tartars, who call it "Bergut" or "Bearcoot." The cry is shrill and yelping. The nest is commonly placed in a tree, though in Scotland such sites are seldom utilized nowadays, a projecting rock on the side of some bare mountain-glen or a sea-girt crag being selected instead. Here a cavity, rather than a ledge, is chosen, and a huge mass of sticks or heather is collected, with a bedding of hair, fur, wool, moss, dry fern and an occasional feather, or more commonly of tufts of _Luzula sylvatica_, garnished with an odd pine-shoot. Two or three eyries are often used in turn, the pile increasing on each occasion. At times the spot can be reached without a rope by a skilful climber, and in some countries nests have been found upon the ground. The two or three eggs–four being quite exceptional–are generally marked with red-brown, crimson, purplish or grey, but, though fine blotches are usual, one if not more of the set is frequently white. They are laid