Tales About Birds, Illustrative of Their Nature, Habits, and Instincts

CHAPTER I.. Uncle Thomas Tells About the Golden Eagle, and Narrates Various

UNCLE THOMAS TELLS ABOUT THE GOLDEN EAGLE, AND NARRATES VARIOUS STORIES ILLUSTRATIVE OF ITS FEROCITY AND POWER.

Uncle Thomas had scarcely finished his last series of Tales, when he was gratified by a visit from the Mama of his young auditors, to introduce her two little Girls, who, having heard their Brothers speak so much of the delightful Stories which he told them, had prevailed on her to come with them to request that Uncle Thomas would be so good as to permit them to accompany their Brothers when they came to visit him.

“I am afraid, Uncle Thomas,” said Mama, “that we already trespass too much on your kindness, in allowing the Boys to intrude upon you so frequently; but they seem always to be so much delighted with the Stories which you tell them that, during the hours in which they are not engaged in the school-room, I seldom hear them talk of any thing else. ‘Don’t you recollect the story which Uncle Thomas told us?’ cries one, in enforcing some controverted point. ‘Ah! but,’ exclaims another, ‘Uncle Thomas said so and so.’ And I have come at the request of their Sisters to beg that you will allow them to form part of your little circle of listeners.”

Uncle Thomas declared that he was delighted to hear that the Boys were interested in the Stories which he told them, and that he would be still more gratified to be honoured with the company of the young ladies.

Mary and Jane, who during Mama’s long speech had been carefully noting the various articles with which Uncle Thomas’s little room was furnished, were almost overjoyed to hear that they were to be admitted. Mary intended to have thanked Uncle Thomas for this kindness, but while some other conversation, which it is unnecessary to repeat, took place between Mama and Uncle Thomas, her attention had been directed by Frank to a glass-case which stood on one side of the room, containing a variety of fine specimens of Birds. So completely was their attention engrossed by what they there saw, that they did not observe that during a pause in the conversation Uncle Thomas had advanced to the table at which they stood, and was listening to their remarks and to the questions with which Mary plied her brother.

“Ah! I see,” said Uncle Thomas, “it is about Birds I must tell you next. I can tell you many interesting stories about Birds; but Mama waits; we must not detain her at present.”

“When shall we come again then, Uncle Thomas?” asked Frank.

“When you please, Frank,” said Uncle Thomas. “Suppose we say to-morrow night; perhaps that will suit the convenience of the young ladies.”

“Oh, quite, Uncle Thomas!” said Mary; “it will be quite convenient for us whenever it is so to you.” Mama having given her assent to this arrangement, the little party, full of smiles, bade Uncle Thomas good morning.

* * * * *

On the following evening, accordingly, they again met, and when they had duly greeted their kind old Uncle Thomas, and seated themselves round his elbow-chair, he began:—

“Birds, my dear children, of which I promised to tell you some stories, are perhaps the most interesting class of animals in creation, whether we consider them in regard to their habits or to the curious structure of their bodies, by which they have been fitted by Nature for the place which GOD has assigned them, or to the Instincts which have been implanted in them. In most minds their recollection is associated with all that is most beautiful and romantic in natural scenery. We meet with them in our walks, chirping and frolicking among the village hedgerows, or see them soaring, with almost untiring wing, high above the mountain tops, or hear their solitary voices as they make the wide-spreading and desolate moor seem even more lonely with their harsh and far-sounding notes. Wherever we direct our steps we are sure to find Birds enlivening and cheering the scene, or adding fresh interest by their varied and characteristic occupations. There are few indeed who cannot say with Cowper:—

“Ten thousand warblers cheer the day, and one The live-long night; nor those alone whose notes Nice-fingered art must emulate in vain; But cawing rooks, and kites, that swim sublime In still repeated circles, screaming loud; The jay, the pie, and e’en the boding owl, That hails the rising moon, have charms for me.”

“Birds,” continued Uncle Thomas, “have been divided by some naturalists into Land and Water Birds; but more recent and systematic writers have introduced a more extended classification. Cuvier, an eminent French author, divides them into Birds of Prey—such as the Eagle and Vulture; Sparrow-like, or hopping Birds—such as Jays, Thrushes, &c.; Climbing Birds—such as Parrots; Poultry Birds—such as Turkeys, Pheasants, &c.; Running and Wading Birds, which are easily distinguished by their long legs; and Web-footed Birds—such as Ducks, Geese, Swans, &c.”

To this long and rather uninteresting detail Mary and Jane listened as patiently as possible. But no sooner was it finished, than the latter seized the opportunity to ask Uncle Thomas whether the Eagle was not the largest Bird in the world, and whether it was a native of Britain, as she had heard a story lately of one having carried off a child to its nest to feed its young?

“The largest of the Birds of Prey, undoubtedly,” said Uncle Thomas, “is the Golden Eagle. It inhabits all the wilder parts of Europe, and is also found in other parts of the world. They are, however, only to be found among wild and savage scenery, preferring for their place of habitation the lonely and elevated peaks of the highest mountains, where, from their great power, they harbour secure from the storm and the tempest.”

“Are they very large, Uncle Thomas?” asked Jane—“Larger than this bird?” pointing to a fine Falcon, which occupied a prominent place in the little museum already referred to.

“Yes, dear!” said Uncle Thomas; “they are much larger, very much larger than that. Like all other animals, they are of course subject to variations in size; their development in some measure depending on the plentifulness or scarcity of their food during the time they are in the nest, and indeed during the whole period until they arrive at their full growth; but the average size of the mature Bird is usually about three feet in length, measuring from the point of the beak to the tip of the tail, while the wings from point to point measure between six and seven feet.”

“They must be very powerful animals, Uncle Thomas,” remarked Mary.

“So strong, that they frequently carry off lambs and other small animals to their nests,” said Uncle Thomas; “and it is said that they have even occasionally carried away children. About a hundred years ago an incident of this kind is said to have occurred in Norway. While a boy about two years old was passing between his father’s cottage and a field at no great distance, in which his parents were at work, an Eagle pounced upon him and flew off with him. His parents, attracted by his shrieks, saw their dear child carried off to an inaccessible rock, and notwithstanding all their efforts, they were unable to rescue him.”

“And was the poor dear child killed, Uncle Thomas?” asked Jane.

“It appears from the story that he was,” said Uncle Thomas, “and unfortunately it is not the only instance of a similar kind. In one of the Feroe Islands, which lie between the north of Scotland and Iceland, an Eagle stooped down and carried away an infant which its mother had laid on the ground, close by the place where she was at work. It flew direct to its nest, at the point of a high rock so steep and precipitous that the boldest bird-catchers had never ventured to scale it. But the strength of a mother’s love overcame all obstacles; she climbed to the nest, but alas! she reached it too late. She found her poor child dead and partly devoured—its little eyes torn out by the cruel bird!

“I am happy to say, however,” continued Uncle Thomas, “that all attacks of the kind do not terminate so fatally. A child which was carried off by an Eagle in the Isle of Skye, in Scotland, was borne by the huge bird across a lake on the banks of which it sat down, probably for the purpose of feeding on its prey, which it perhaps found too heavy to carry farther. Fortunately however, it happened that the bird alighted at a short distance from some people who were herding sheep, and hearing the infant cry, they hurried to the spot, frightened away the Eagle, and rescued it uninjured.”

“It was very fortunate they were so near,” remarked Harry.

“It was so,” said Uncle Thomas, “and the parents were in this respect more fortunate than those of another child which was carried off by an Eagle from the side of its mother, who was at work in the fields. She saw the huge bird pounce down on her little darling, but before she could run to its assistance it was carried off, and she heard its cries as it was borne out of her sight, and she saw it no more. This took place in Sweden.

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