In the Feroë Isles an Eagle flew away with a child (which its mother had left for a few moments), and bore it off to its aerie. Maternal love inspired the unfortunate woman with such a degree of strength as to enable her to reach the nest; but alas! to find her child lifeless.
Near New York, in America, a lad of seven years of age was attacked by an Eagle. The boy having avoided the first shock, the Eagle persevered in its onslaught; but he waited for it bravely, and gave the bird a vigorous blow under the left wing with a sickle, which killed it. When the stomach of this Eagle was opened it was found entirely devoid of food. The bird was, therefore, in a famished state, and consequently enfeebled. Its persistent boldness is thus explained, and also the ease with which it was mastered.
We must, however, confess that cases of children being carried away by Eagles are rare, for they generally avoid the vicinity of man, feeling unable to cope with him successfully. The chief objects of their attacks are newly-born lambs, which they frequently carry off in spite of the shouts of the shepherds and the proximity of his dogs. Sometimes they devote their attention to young calves; they do not, however, attempt to carry them off, but feed on them where slaughtered.
A considerable amount of ingenuity has been displayed by some men in turning to account the habit which Eagles have of storing up a quantity of provisions in their nests for the sustenance of their young. A peasant in Ireland kept himself and the whole of his family for an entire season by robbing the Eaglets in a neighbouring aerie of the stores of food which were brought to them by the parent birds. In order to prolong this singular means of livelihood, report says, he endeavoured to delay the moment when the young ones would be driven forth, adopting the artifice of cutting their wings to render it impossible for them to fly.
Eagles are very suspicious, and it is consequently difficult to get within gunshot of them. The mountaineers of the Pyrenees suffer much from the ravages they make among their flocks, and for this reason brave many dangers to destroy the young birds.
"This pursuit," says M. Gérard, "is carried on by two men; one of the hunters is armed with a double-barrelled carbine, the other with a kind of iron pike about two feet long. At the first indication of daybreak the hunters reach the mountain-peak where the Eagle has his aerie, just at the time that the old birds are away seeking food. The first stands on the summit of the rock, and, carbine in hand, waits the arrival of the Eagle. The other makes his way down to the nest, climbing from cleft to cleft by means of cords. With a bold hand the Eaglets are grasped, still too young to oppose resistance. The parents, hearing the cries of their young, swoop down furiously, and fall upon the intrepid mountaineer, who beats them off with thrusts of his pike, whilst his companion waits a favourable opportunity to deliver his fire, which generally terminates the contest."
The Eagle has been taken in snares; but if the instrument is not fastened down securely to the ground, the bird will tear it up and bear it off. Meisner relates that an Eagle, having been caught by the foot in a fox's trap, struggled with such effect that it wrenched up the trap, and carried it away to the other side of the mountain, although the instrument weighed nearly nine pounds.
The Scotch employ a method for capturing Eagles which originated from their known voracity. In a narrow space, bounded by four tolerably high walls, they throw down pieces of raw meat. The Eagle settles to devour it. When completely gorged it becomes too heavy to fly, and endeavours to make his way out through an opening at the foot of the walls, where it is caught and held fast by a running noose, which is placed in front of the exit.
The Eagle is remarkable for its longevity; but this cannot be accurately determined. Klein mentions an instance of one of these birds which lived in captivity in Vienna for one hundred and four years; he also speaks of a pair of Eagles in Forfarshire, in Scotland, which inhabited the same aerie for such a length of time that the oldest inhabitants had always known them.
If captured young, Eagles are susceptible of a certain amount of education; but there always remains a tinge of ferocity in their nature, which renders their behaviour gloomy and sullen. When old they are absolutely untamable. In captivity they adapt their appetite to circumstances, and will even devour their own race. When nothing better is to be obtained, serpents, lizards, and, according to Buffon, bread are acceptable food to them.