Although the Eagle is so irascible by nature, it has sometimes given proofs of gentleness truly astonishing. We may instance the bird which lived in 1807 in the Jardin des Plantes, in Paris, which was captured in the forest of Fontainebleau. One of its feet was broken in the trap in which it was taken, and in consequence it was compelled to submit to a most painful operation, which it underwent with exemplary calmness and courage. Fully three months elapsed before it was cured, and afterwards it became so familiar with its keeper that it allowed itself to be caressed by him, and on his retiring for the night the bird roosted by his couch.
The ancient falconers of the East were not in the habit of making use of the Eagle; its want of docility and its great weight rendered it but little adapted for this exercise. Thus they rather unceremoniously class the Eagle among the ignoble birds.
Fig. 280.—Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos).
The Tartars, however, are in the habit of using an Eagle indigenous to Central Asia to assist in taking the hare, fox, antelope, and wolf. As this bird is weighty, they do not hold it on the fist, but place it in front of their horse's saddle. The genus called the Berecoot, which is scarcely known by Europeans, is of great power and courage. A well-known traveller describes a scene he witnessed on the steppes of Tartary, where a pair of them attacked and killed a brace of wolves with the greatest apparent ease.
Fig. 281.—Imperial Eagles (A. mogilnik).
The Eagle is cosmopolitan, and may be found in all parts of the globe. There are several genera which we shall merely make mention of, because the habits of all are so exceedingly similar.
The synonyms here given are those used in the classification of the British Museum. The Royal Eagle ([Fig. 280]), called also the Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), attains a greater size than any other; it is a native of the North and East of Europe. The Imperial Eagle ([Fig. 281]) is found in the East and South of Europe, and also in North Africa. Bonelli's Eagle (A. Bonellii) inhabits Southern Europe, particularly Greece. The Tawny Eagle (A. nævioides) is to be met with in all the mountainous and woody countries of Europe. The Booted Eagle (A. pennata) lives in the East and South of Europe, and occasionally makes its appearance in France. Reinwardt's Eagle (A. malayensis) is found in the Malay peninsula and islands; and the Vulturine Eagle (A. vulturina) is a species peculiar to South Africa, and of which Levaillant was the first to point out the peculiar characteristics.
The diurnal birds of prey belonging to the order of Sea or Fishing Eagles are distinguished from Eagles proper by their tarsi, which are feathered only in the upper part, as well as by their feeding principally on marine animalia.