The Eagle builds its nest in the clefts of the most inaccessible rocks, or on their edge, that its brood may be safe from danger or surprise. This nest is nothing but a floor, made of sticks placed carelessly side by side, bound together with some pliable branches, and lined with leaves, reeds, and heather. However, its solidity is sufficient to resist for years the decay caused by time, and to bear the load of four or five birds, weighing from seventy to eighty pounds, with the provisions brought for their sustenance. Some Eagles' nests have an area of as much as five feet square. The number of eggs laid is generally two or three, rarely four. Incubation requires thirty days.
Eaglets being very voracious, the parent birds are compelled to hunt with great assiduity. Nevertheless, should scarcity occur, the young brood do not suffer, for nature has endowed them with the faculty of supporting abstinence for many days. This peculiarity they possess in common with all birds of prey. Buffon mentions an Eagle which, having been taken in a trap, passed five weeks without anything to eat, and did not appear enfeebled until the last eight days. An English author states that for twenty-one days a tame Eagle was not fed, and that the bird appeared to have suffered little from its protracted fast.
When the young are large enough to provide for their own wants they are pitilessly driven from their paternal home; they then proceed to an unoccupied district, of which they take possession.
The Eagle is, as we have before said, endowed with immense muscular vigour; it is, therefore, able to carry off prey of considerable size, such as Geese, Turkeys, Cranes, &c.; also Hares, Kids, and Lambs. In the mountains in which Chamois are abundant they are the principal objects of the Eagle's pursuit, and it employs various stratagems to get these animals into its power; for the bird will not venture to make its attack in front, as the Chamois is well able to keep it at a distance with its horns, provided its rear is protected.
The Eagle sometimes kills its prey with the force of its swoop, without clutching with talons or beak. Again, it is stated that a blow from its wing will deprive a kid of life; it is not, therefore, surprising that its strength enables it to lift up young children, and carry them off.
Many for a long period have refused to give credence to this fact; but the evidence of persons who are worthy of all confidence will not allow of any doubt being raised on the subject. We will, however, mention a few instances.
In the Canton of Vaud two little girls, one three years old and the other five, were playing together in a meadow. An Eagle swooped down upon the eldest, and carried her off. All that immediately afterwards could be found upon a most active search was a shoe and stocking belonging to the child. Two months having elapsed, a shepherd discovered the remains of the little victim, horribly mutilated, and lying upon a rock half a league from the meadow from which she was taken.
In the Isle of Skye, in Scotland, a woman left her child in a field. An Eagle carried off the little one in its talons, and crossing over a broad lake, laid it upon a rock. Fortunately the robber was perceived by some shepherds, who came up in time to succour the infant.
In Sweden a babe was carried away under somewhat similar circumstances. The mother, who was only a short distance off, heard the shrieks of the poor little thing; but it was impossible for her to rescue it. It was borne out of her sight, and the wretched woman went mad with grief.
In the Canton of Geneva a boy of ten years old, who was robbing an Eagle's nest, was seized by one of the birds, and borne to a point six hundred yards from the spot. He was rescued by his companions without having suffered further injury than some severe wounds inflicted by the bird's talons.