The eagle flies with most graceful ease. On his broad wings,
moved by strong muscles, he sweeps boldly through the air, rising
in circles till he is all but lost to the sight of the beholder.
From this high position he can see far and wide beneath him;
his keen eye singles out his prey at a long distance; and down he
dives with the suddenness of a flash of lightning.

This terrible suddenness of attack commonly kills the victim on
the instant. The weapon of death is not the beak, but either the
wing or the claws; a flap of the wing or a clutch of the talons
is usually enough for the purpose. The eagle kills and eats birds
that are smaller and weaker than himself, he lives upon the best
of the game, and he drags the best of the fish out of the river
or the sea. He carries off the farmer's poultry, and often also
young pigs or lambs; sometimes, it is said, he has carried off to
his nest even a little boy or girl.

The eagle's nest, or eyrie, is high up on the ledge of some
precipice, where hardly any enemy can come. Of course it is a
very large nest; but it is not carefully or nicely built. It is a
rough affair, like the rook's nest; a lot of sticks and twigs,
and heath or grass, with a more comfortable hollow in the middle,
which is padded with softer materials. Here the young are reared;
and here the male bird brings home prey for the female and the
eaglets; bones and flesh are scattered about everywhere. The
eagle is much attached to the spot where he makes his home; he
dwells in the same eyrie year after year, and shows little desire
to seek his fortunes elsewhere.