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down the precipice. He carried his mountain staff with him;
its spiked end being the best weapon against the birds. He
did not expect to kill the old ones; but year after year the
eggs or the young were taken. If he brought the young away
alive he had the birds for his pains: if the eggs, every
shepherd gave five shillings for every egg. It is said that
no more than two eggs were ever found at one time. The nest
was made of twigs, and lined with a sort of grass from the
clefts of the rock. When the fowler failed, and the eaglets
were reared, they were led away, as soon as strong enough,
by the parent birds,- no doubt to settle in some other spot;
and the parents returned without them. One of this pair was
shot at by the master of a sheep dog which had been actually
carried some distance into the air by it, escaping only by
its flesh giving way. The shot took effect, but the eagle
vanished. About a week after, it was found lying on the
grass on the uplands at Seatoller, nearly starved. Its bill
had been split by the shot, and. the tongue was set fast in
the cleft: it could not make much resistance, and was
carried home captive. But, when relieved and restored, it
became so violent that it was necessarily killed. Its mate
brought a successor from a distance, a much smaller bird,
and of a different species. They built, however, for
fourteen more years in Borrowdale, before they flew over to
Eskdale. They were not long left in peace there; and, when
the larger bird was at length shot, his mate disappeared
entirely. Such devastation as was caused by these birds is
not heard of now; but while there are
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