t hold of my left foot in his teeth,
and threw me on my back. I struck at him with the empty gun, and he
seized the barrels in his mouth. This was his last effort. I sprang up,
and seizing the spear from the horse-keeper, drove it through his side,
and thus killed him."

EAGLES AND THEIR WAYS.

The great golden eagle is one of the most distinguished members of its
mighty family. It is found in many parts of the world, a kingly
inhabitant of mountainous regions, where it builds its nest on rocky
crags accessible only to the most daring hunter.

This noble bird is of a rich blackish-brown tint on the greater part of
its body, its head and neck inclining to a reddish color. Its tail is
deep gray crossed with dark brown bars. Some large specimens which have
been captured have measured nearly four feet in length, while the
magnificent wings expanded from eight to nine feet.

The golden eagle is no longer found in England, but is still plentiful
in the Scottish Highlands, where it makes its nest on some lofty ledge
of rock among the mountain solitudes. Swiss naturalists state that it
sometimes nests in the lofty crotch of some gigantic oak growing on the
lower mountain slopes, but Audubon and other eminent ornithologists
declare that an eagle's nest built in a tree has never come under their
observation.

The nest of this inhabitant of the mountains is not neatly made, like
those of smaller birds, but is a huge mass of twigs, dried grasses,
brambles, and hair heaped together to form a bed for the little ones.
Here the mother bird lays three or four large white eggs speckled with
brown. The young birds are almost coal-black, and only assume the golden
and brownish tinge as they become full grown, which is not until about
the fourth year. Eaglets two or three years old are described in books
of natural history as ring-tailed eagles, and are sometimes taken for a
distinct species of the royal bird, while in reality they are the
children of the golden eagle tribe.

Eagles rarely change their habitation, and, unless disturbed, a pair
will inhabit the same nest for years. It is very faithful to its mate,
and one pair have been observed living happily together through a long
life. Should one die, the bird left alone will fly away in search of
another mate, and soon return with it to its former home. Eagles live to
a great age; even in captivity in royal gardens specimens have been
known to live more than a hundred yea