. Reptiles and birds : a popular account of their various orders, with a description of the habits and economy of the most interesting . of its wings is nearly ten feet. In the ImperialEagle the spread of the wings is only six feet, and in the smallMarine Eagle four feet four inches. It has been stated that the Eagle can travel sixty-five feet in asecond, which would give a speed of forty-four miles an hour; but 564 REPTILES AND BIRDS. Naumann positively contradicts this assertion. It is at all events amatter of certainty that the flight of this bird is very rapid. An Eaglehas been noticed cir
. Reptiles and birds : a popular account of their various orders, with a description of the habits and economy of the most interesting . of its wings is nearly ten feet. In the ImperialEagle the spread of the wings is only six feet, and in the smallMarine Eagle four feet four inches. It has been stated that the Eagle can travel sixty-five feet in asecond, which would give a speed of forty-four miles an hour; but 564 REPTILES AND BIRDS. Naumann positively contradicts this assertion. It is at all events amatter of certainty that the flight of this bird is very rapid. An Eaglehas been noticed circling over a hare in a field, and hemming it in, sothat the victim was unable to escape on either side, always findingits enemy in front. The Eagle builds its nest in the clefts of the most inaccessiblerocks, or on their edge, that its brood may be safe from danger orsurprise. This nest is nothing but a floor, made of sticks placedcarelessly side by side, bound together with some pliable branches,and lined with leaves, reeds, and heather. However, its solidity issufficient to resist for years the decay caused by time, and to bear. Fig. 259.—Wing of an Eagle. the load of four or five birds, weighing combined from seventy toeighty pounds, with the provisions brought for their eagles nests have an area of as much as five feet square. Thenumber of eggs laid is generally two or three, rarely four. Incubationrequires thirty days. Their young being very voracious, the parent birds are compelledto hunt with great assiduity. Nevertheless, should scarcity occur, thebrood do not suffer in proportion, for Nature has endowed them withthe faculty of supporting abstinence for many days. This peculiaritythey possess in common with all birds of prey. Bufibn mentions anEagle which, having been taken in a trap, passed five weeks withoutanything to eat, and did not appear enfeebled until the last eightdays. An English author states that for twenty-one days a tame Eaglewas not fed
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, booksubjectbirds, booksubjectreptiles, bookyear1
