There are several Gairloch anecdotes of eagles. On the edge of the wood at the base of Craig Tollie an eagle pounced upon a roe-deer, and deeply fixed its talons in the poor beast's side. The roe taking to the wood, was near crushing the eagle against the trees. The eagle clutched at a branch with the claws of one foot, still keeping its hold of the roe with the other foot, but the speed of the roe was so great that the bird was actually torn in two. One portion was found fixed to the deer, which died from loss of blood, and the other in the tree.
Doubts have been thrown on the credibility of this anecdote; the following extract from "Martin's Western Islands of Scotland" helps to confirm it. Writing about 1695, Martin says:—"The eagles are very destructive to the fawns and lambs, especially the black eagle, which is of a lesser size than the other. The natives observe that it fixes its talons between the deer's horns, and beats its wings constantly about its eyes, which puts the deer to run continually till it fall into a ditch, or over a precipice, where it dies, and so becomes a prey to the cunning hunter. There are at the same time several other eagles of this kind which fly on both sides of the deer, which fright it extremely, and contribute much to its more sudden destruction. The foresters, and several of the natives, assured me that they had seen both sorts of the eagles kill deer in this manner."
In further confirmation the following paragraph is quoted from "Natural History Notes from Russian Asia," by A. H. M., which appeared in the Field of 27th October 1883:—
"The Kirghiz train the grey hawks to catch larks and quails, and showed me an eagle I could not recognise, assuring me they could train it to fly at wolves. This bird was a long way off, but it looked to me like the golden eagle. I was told that, after being kept without sleep or food for nine days, this bird became quite tame, and would feed from the hand of the man who had trained it during this period. A strap of stout leather is fastened round each leg, allowing some ten inches play. When the wolf is sighted the eagle is flown, and, as soon as it seizes him, it plants one foot firmly in the wolf's loins, and with the other drags along the ground, catching at anything that gives a little hold,—stones, weeds, &c. Should the wolf turn, the eagle drives at his eyes with its powerful beak, and, the heavy drag on his back causing him to go slowly, the falconer rides up and settles him with blows from a heavy whip, or with a knife. This is something like hawking. My driver swore, by all that was holy, that he himself had killed many wolves with these 'birghuts,' or small eagles."
The method employed by the eagle of the Kirghiz in dealing with wolves, appears to be exactly on all fours with that of the eagle attacking the roe on Craig Tollie.
Mr H. E. Dresser, F.L.S., F.Z.S., &c., author of "The Birds of Europe," informs me he is sure he has been told that trained eagles are sometimes breeched, to prevent their being torn asunder. The strap employed by the Kirghiz seems to be an example of this. Mr Dresser states that Atkinson ("Oriental and Western Siberia," pp. 492-494) gives an account of trained golden eagles being flown at deer; and M. V. Scully relates ("Stray Feathers," iv., p. 123) that he has seen many such trained eagles, and he adds that in a wild state they prey on stags, antelopes, wild-cats, foxes, and wolves. Surely the fate of the unbreeched eagle of Craig Tollie is not improbable!
The next anecdote is of an eagle near Kenlochewe. This injudicious bird carried off a cat to feed its two young at its eyrie,—probably on Meall a' Ghubhais. The cat was alive and well when deposited in the eagle's nest. Pussy made short work of the two young eagles, and returned home safe and sound.
The incident is traditional, not only in Gairloch, but also in the neighbouring districts. I understand that in Assynt and Kintail, as well as in Gairloch, the following Gaelic riddle is often asked, the answer being this very anecdote. The riddle is as follows:—"Chaidh biadh do dithis go ceann Loch Maridhe dhith am biadh dithis thainig am biadh dhachidh a rhithisd." Here is a literal English translation,—"Some food went to two at the head of Loch Maree, the food ate the two, and the food came home again."
Another eagle, not long ago, at Talladale, was seen soaring above a foal, with the manifest intention of attacking it. The mare watched her foal with evident anxiety, seemingly prepared to defend her young at all hazards. The eagle, foiled in his design, took up in his talons a part of a tree stump, and let it fall, apparently in the hope that it would strike and kill the foal.
Dr Mackenzie has the following note of a good bag of eagles made in Gairloch in the early part of the present century. He says:—"Our game-killer, Watson, had a good day once with eagles, producing three splendid birds from a day's shooting, besides two young birds also killed. A pair nested on the west side of Bus Bheinn, and another pair on its east side, both out of reach, even by rope, although the nests were visible from tops about eighty to one hundred yards away. Watson, by daybreak, was on the top of Bus Bheinn, with swan shot in one barrel and a ball in the other. Peering over the rock, away sailed one of the eagles, but the swan shot dropped him in the heather below the rock. Another eagle at the nest at the other side of the hill came to the same end. Then hiding himself among the rocks, near where a wounded eagle flapped his wings, a third eagle, coming to see what this meant, was invited down by a shot, making a brace and a half of old eagles before breakfast! Then to shorten matters with the two chicken eagles, he climbed the hill again, and ere his bullets were all used up, both of them were dead, and their remains were visible on the nests for many a year after, having got more lead to breakfast than they could digest. I wait to hear of the gunner in Britain who could shew his two and a half brace of eagles killed in one day, before breakfast!"