Α are there many of these hanimils in this country?" is very like the king of the Cockneys. No doubt an eagle is an animal; like Mr Cobbett, or Mr O'Connell, we forget which-" a very fine animal;" but we particularly, and earnestly, and anxiously, request Sir Humphry Davy not to call her so again-but to use the term bird, or any other term he chooses, except animal. Animal, a living creature, is too general, too vague by far; and somehow or other it offends our ear shockingly when applied to an eagle. We may be wrong, but in a trifling matter of this kind Sir Humphry surely will not refuse our supplication. Let him call a horse an animal, if he chooses-or an ass-or a cowbut not an eagle-as he loves us, not an eagle,-let him call it a bird-the Bird of Jove-the Queen or King of the Sky-or any thing else he chooses is impossible for you not to see. person behaving in a boat, like Poietes, deserved being flung overboard. "Look at the bird!" Why, every eye was already upon her; and let us tell Poietes, that if he had had a single spark of poetry in his soul, he would have been struck mute by such a sight, instead of bawling out, open-mouthed, and goggle-eyed, like a Cockney to a rocket at Vauxhall. Besides, an eagle does not, when descending on its prey, fall like a rock. There is nothing like the "vis inertia" in her precipitation. You still see the self-willed energy of the ravenous bird, as the mass of plumes flashes in the spray-of which there never was, nor will be, a column so raised. She is as much the queen of birds as she sinks as when she soars -her trust and her power is still seen and felt to be in her pinions, whether she shoots to or from the zenith--but not an animal-no-no-noto a falling star she might be likened -just as any other devil-either by Milton or Wordsworth-for such a star seems to our eye and our imagination ever instinct with spirit, not to be impelled by exterior force, but to be "self-shot" from heaven. Upon our word, we begin to be lieve, that we ourselves deserve the name of Poietes much better than the gentleman who had never seen an eagle." She has fallen from a great height," quoth the gentleman-"what an extraordinary sight!" he continues -while we are mute as the oar sus pended by the up-gazing Celt, whose quiet eye brightens as it pursues the Bird to her eyrie in the cliff over the cove where the red-deer sleep. Poietes having given vent to his emotions in such sublime exclamations-"Look at the bird!" "What an extraordinary sight!" might have thenceforth held his tongue, and said no more about eagles. But Halieus cries, "There! you see her rise with a fish in her talons"-and Poietes, very simply, or rather like a great simpleton, returns for answer, "She gives an interest which I hardly expected to have found in this scene. Pray, are there many of these animals in this country?" A poet hardly expecting to find interest in such a scene as a great Highland loch-Loch Maree! We verily begin to suspect, that Poietes is Mr Leigh Hunt, and that he has on his yellow breeches. "Pray, not an animal, as he hopes to prosper, and to be praised in Maga, and thereby embalmed and immortalized. Neither ought Poietes to have asked if there were many of these animals in this country. He ought to have known that there are not many of these animals in any country, Eagles are proud-apt to hold their heads very high-and to make themselves scarce. A great many eagles all flying about together would look most absurd. They are aware of that, and fly in " ones and twos"-a couple perhaps to a county. Poietes might as well have asked Mungo Park if there were a great many lions in Africa. Mungo, we think, saw but one; and that was one too much. There were probably a few more between Sego and Timbuctoo—but there are not a "great many of those animals in that country"-though quite sufficient for the purpose. Halieus says-with a smile on his lip surely-in answer to the query of Poietes" Of this species I have seen but these two; and, I believe, the young ones migrate as soon as they can provide for themselves; for this solitary bird requires a large space to move and feed in, and does not allow its offspring to partake its reign, or to live near it." This is all pretty true, and known to every child rising or risen twelve, except poor Poietes. He had imagined that there were "many of these animals in this country," that they all went a-fishing together as amicably as five hundred sail of Manksmen among a shoal of herrings. Throughout these dialogues we have observed that Ornither rarely opens his mouth. Why so taciturn? On the subject of birds he ought, from his name, to be well informed; and how could he let slip an opportunity, such as will probably never be afforded him again in this life, of being eloquent on the Silver Eagle? Ornithology is surely the department of Ornither. Yet there is evidently something odd and peculiar in his idiosyncracy, for we observe that he never once alludes to "these animals," birds, during the whole excursion. He has not taken his gun with him into the Highlands, a sad and stupid oversight indeed, in a gentleman who "is to be regarded as generally fond of the sports of the field." Flappers are plentiful over all the moors about the middle of July; and hoodies, owls, hawks, ravens, and eagles, make all first-rate shooting to sportsmen not over-anxious about the pot. It is to be presumed, too, that he can stuff birds. What noble specimens might he not have shot for Mr Selby! On one occasion, "the SILVER EAGLE" is preying in a pool within slug range, and there is some talk of shooting him -we suppose with an oar, or the butt of a fishing-rod, for the party have no fire-arms-but Poietes insists on sparing his life, because "these animals" are a picturesque accompaniment to the scenery, and "give it an interest which he had not expected to find" in mere rivers, lochs, moors, and mountains. Genus Falco must all the while have been laughing in his sleeve at the whole party-particularly at Ornither-who, to judge from his general demeanour-may be a fair shot with number five, at an old newspaper expanded on a barn-door, but never could have had the audacity to think, in his most ambitious mood, to let off his gun at an Eagle. But farther, Halieus, before he took upon him to speak so authoritatively about eagles, should have made himself master of their names and natures. Sir Humphry is manifestly no scientific ornithologist. We are. The general question concerning Eagles in Scotland may now be squeezed into very small compass. Exclusive of the true Osprey, (Falco Halimetus,) which is rather a large fishing hawk than an eagle, there are only two kinds, viz.the GOLDEN EAGLE, (F. Chrysaetos) and the WHITE TAILED, or CINEREOUS EAGLE, (F. Albicilla.) The other two nominal species are disposed of in the following manner : First, the RING-TAILED EAGLE, (F. Fulvus) is the young of the Golden Eagle, being distinguished in early life by having the basal and central portion of the tail white, which colour disappears as the bird attains the adult state. Second, The SEA EAGLE, (F. Ossifra gus) commonly so called, is the young of the White-tailed Eagle abovenamed, from which it differs in having a brown tail; for in this species the white of the tail becomes every year more apparent, as the bird encreases in age, whereas, in the Golden Eagle, the white altogether disappears in the adult. It is to the RING-TAILED EAGLE, and, by consequence, to the GOLDEN EAGLE, that the name of BLACK EAGLE is applied in the Highlands. The White-tailed, or Sea Eagle, as it becomes old, attains, in addition to the pure tail, a pale or bleached appearance, from which it may merit and obtain the name of Grey or SIVER EAGLE, as Sir Humphry Davy chooses to call it; but it is not known, among naturalists, by that name. There is no other species, however, to which the name can apply; and, therefore, Sir Humphry has committed the very gross mistake of calling the Grey or Silver Eagle (to use his own nomenclature) a very rare Eagle, since it is the most common of all the Scotch, and also—a fortiori—of all the English Eagles-being in fact the SEAEAGLE of the Highlands. It preys often on fish dead or alive; but not exclusively, as it also attacks young lambs, and drives off the ravens from carrion prey, being less fastidious in its diet than the GOLDEN EAGLE, which probably kills its own meatand has been known to carry off chil dren; for a striking account of one of which hay-field robberies, see our splendid review of Selby's Ornithology. As to its driving off its young, its habits are probably similar in this respect to other birds of prey, none of which appear to keep together in families after the young can shift for themselves; but we have never met with any one who has seen them in the act of driving. It is stated vaguely, in all books, of all eagles. as As to its requiring a large range to feed in-we have only to remark, that, from the powerful flight of these birds, and the wild and barren nature of the countries which they inhabit, there can be no doubt that they fly far, and " prey in distant isles". Thomson has it; but Halieus needed not to have stated this circumstance as a character of this peculiar eagle,for an eagle with a small range does not exist; and therefore it is to be presumed that they require a large one. Farther, all this being the case, there seems to be no necessity for the old eagles giving themselves the trouble to drive off the young ones, who by natural instinct will fly off of their own accord, as soon as their wings can bear them over the sea. If an eagle were so partial to his native vale, as never, on any account, hungry or thirsty, drunk or sober, to venture into the next parish, why then, the old people would be forced, on the old principle of self-preservation, to pack off their progeny to bed and board beyond Benevis. But an Eagle is a Citizen of the World. He is friendly to the views of Mr Huskisson on the Wool Trade, the Fisheries and the Colonies-and acts upon the old adage, "Every bird for himself, and God for us all!" To conclude, for the present, this branch of our subject, we beg leave humbly to express our belief, that Sir Humphry Davy never saw the Eagle by him called the Grey or Silver, hunt ing for fish in the style described in Salmonia. It does not dislike fishbut it is not its nature to keep hunting for them so, not in the Highlands at least, whatever it may do in American continents or isles. Sir Humphry talks of the bird dashing down repeatedly upon a pool within shot of the anglers. We have angled fifty times in the Highlands for Sir Humphry's once, but never saw nor heard of such a sight. He has read of such things, and introduced them into this dialogue for the sake of effect-all quite right to do-had his reading lain among trustworthy Ornithologists. The common Eagle-which he ignorantly, as we have seen, calls so rare-is a shy bird, as all shepherds know-and 8 is seldom within range of the rifle. Gorged with blood, they are some times run in upon and felled with a staff or club. So perished in the flower of his age that Eagle-eight feet four inches from wing-tip to wingtip, whose feet now form handles to the bell-ropes of our Sanctum at Buchanan Lodge-and are the subject of a clever copy of verses by Mullion, entitled "All the Talons." We have, indeed, been pained and surprised by the frequent display of superficial knowledge, and profound ignorance of natural history, in a work written by such a man as Sir Humphry Davy. He must positively reread Kirby and Spence's Entomology. There was no occasion in the world for allusions to the loves of frogs and worms. He gravely declares his belief that a par is a mule between a sea-trout and a common fresh-water trout. And at the very same time he asserts, that a sea-trout and a fresh-water trout is one and the same-that all trouts are lineally descended from the original sea-trout, just as all dogs are lineally descended from the original shepherd-dog. If so, how can a par be a mule? But further, does not Sir Humphry see the gross folly of supposing that the son of a sea-trout could by any possibility be a par? Why, the sea- trout being the trout of all trouts, would not fail to improve the progeny of the degenerated fresh-waters. His offspring would, infallibly, bear a strong family resemblance to himself, in form and features, and also in size. No reason can be assigned, from the analogy of nature, why a fine, bold, bouncing sea-trout, of some lbs. four or six, should never have been able to beget, among all his paramours of fresh-water birth, anything above a par! Our anglers now disembark, and walk about a mile down the river Ewe to their fishing station-and go to work. Here is a specimen of Sir Humphry's powers as a writer of dialogues on angling. "But I see there is a large fish which think he is fresh run from the sea, for the has just risen at the tail of the pool. I tide is coming in. My fly and tackle are almost too fine for so large a fish, and I will put on my first fly with a very strong single gut link and a stretcher of triple gut. He has taken my fly, and I hold him-a powerful fish; he must be be tween 10 and 15lbs. He fights well, and tries to get up the rapid at the top of the pool. I must try my strength with him to keep him off that rock, or he will break me. I have turned him, and he is now in a good part of the pool: such a fish cannot be tired in a minute, but requires from 10 to 20 times as long, depending upon his activity and strength, and the rapidity of the stream he moves against. He is now playing against the strongest rapid in the river, and will soon give in if he keeps his present place. "POIET.You have tired him. "HAL. He seems fairly tired: I shall bring him into shore. Now gaff him; strike as near the tail as you can. He is safe; we must prepare him for the pot. Give him a stunning blow on the head to deprive him of sensation, and then give him a transverse cut just below the gills, and crimp him by cutting to the bone on each side, so as almost to divide him into slices; and now hold him by the tail that he may bleed. There is a small spring, I see, close under that bank, which I daresay has the mean temperature of the atmosphere in this climate, and is much under 500-place him there, and let him remain for ten minutes, and then carry him to the pot, and let the water and salt boil furiously before you put in a slice, and give time to the water to recover its heat before you throw in another, and so with the whole fish, and leave the head out, and throw in the thickest pieces first. "PHYS.-Why did you not crimp your trout? "HAL.-We will have that fried. Our poacher prevented me from attending to the preparation of that fish; but for frying he is better not crimped, as he is not large enough to give good transverse slices. POIET. This salmon is a good fish, and fresh, as you said, from the sea. You see the salt-water louse adheres to his sides, and he is bright and silvery, and a thick fish; I daresay his weight is not less than 14lbs., and I know of no better fish for the table than one of that size. "HAL.-Now we have caught fish for our dinner, my task is finished: Physicus and Poietes, try your skill. I have not fished over the best parts of this pool: you may catch a brace of fish here before din ner is ready. "PHYS. It is too late, and I shall go and see that all is right. "POIET.-1 will take one or two casts; but give me your fly; I like always to be sure that the tackle is taking. "HAL.-Try at first the very top of the pool,-though I fear you will get nothing there; but here is a cast which, I think, the Highlander can hardly have commanded from the other side, and which is rarely without a good fish. There he VOL. XXIV. rose: a large trout of 10lbs., or a salmon. Now wait a few minutes. When a fish has missed the fly, he will not rise again till after a pause particularly if he has been for some time in the fresh water. Now try him again. He has risen, but he is a dark fish that has been some time in the water, and he tries to drown the fly with a blow of his tail. I fear you will not hook him except foul, when most likely he would break you. Try the bottom of the pool, below where I caught my fish. "POIET.-I have tried all the casts, and nothing rises. "HAL. Come, we will change the fly for that with which I caught my trout. "POIET. Now I have one: he has taken the fly under water, and I cannot see him. "HAL. Straiten your line and we shall soon see him. He is a sea-trout, but not a large one. "POIET. But he fights like a salmon, and must be near 5lbs. "HAL.-Under 31bs.; but these fish are always strong and active, and some times give more sport than larger fish. Shorten your line or he will carry you over the stones and cut the link gut. He is there already : you have allowed him to carry out too much line, wind up as quick as you can, and keep a tight hand upon him. He is now back in a good place, and in a few minutes more will be spent. I have the net. There he is, a sea-trout of nearly 3lbs. This will be a good addition to our dinner: I will crimp him, that you may compare boiled sea-trout with broiled, and with salmon. Now, if you please we will cool this fish at the spring, and then go to our inn. "POIET.-If you like. I am endeavouring to find a reason for the effect of crimping and cold in preserving the curd of fish. Have you ever thought on this subject? "HAL.-Yes: I conclude that the fat of salmon between the flakes, is mixed with much albumen and gelatine, and is extremely liable to decompose, and by keeping it cool the decomposition is retarded, and by the boiling salt and water, which is of a higher temperature than that of common boiling water, the albumen is coagulated, and the curdiness preserved. The crimping, by preventing the irritability of the fibre from being gradually exhausted, seems to preserve it so hard and crisp, that it breaks under the teeth; and a fresh fish not crimped is generally tough. A friend of mine, an excellent angler, has made some experiments on the fat of fish; and he considers the red colour of trout, salmon, and char, as owing to a peculiar coloured oil, which may be extracted by alcohol; and this accounts for the want of it in fish that have fed ill, and after spawn 2 L ing. In general, the depth of the red colour, and the quantity of curd, are proportional. "POIET. Would not the fish be still better, or at least possess more curd, if caught in a net, and killed immediately? In the operation of tiring by the reel there must be considerable muscular exertion, and I should suppose expenditure of oily matter. "HAL.There can be no doubt but the fish would be in a more perfect state for the table from the nets; yet a fish in high season does not lose so much fat during the short time he is on the hook as to make much difference; and I am not sure that the action of crimping after does not give a better sort of crispness to the fibre: this, however, may be fancy; we will dis.. cuss the matter again at table." Come, reader-no yawning. Tis bad manners to pull over any page a mouth of that character. Brighten up a bit-give yourself a good shake -rub your eyes-out with your fists at arms' length-off with you from that insidious arm-chair so plump with all its cushions-a few turns up and down the room-yes-no harm at all in a calker-now you are as brisk as a bee again, and able for another paragraph. We perceive by your looks that you hold sleep in the greatest contempt. But do not commit the very common and fatal mistake of thinking too lightly of your ene my-for he may take you by surprise, and lay you on your back as flat as a flounder. Yet, you will surely not fall asleep at dinner, whatever you may be in the custom of doing after it-so look here- "THE INNKEEPER.-Gentlemen, dinner is ready. THE DINNER. "HAL.Where? "ORN. On the Continent; where the common snipe, that rests during its migration from the north to the south in the marshes of Italy and Carniola, and the double or solitary snipe, become so fat as to resemble that bird which was formerly fattened in Lincolnshire, the ruff; and they have, I think, a better flavour, from being fed on their natural food. "HAL.-At what time have you eaten them ? "ORN-I have eaten them both in spring and autumn; but the autumnal birds are the best, and are like the ortolan of Italy. "HAL.-Where does the double snipe winter? "ORN. I believe in Africa and Asia Minor. They are rarely seen in England, except driven by an east wind in the spring, or a strong north wind in the autumn. Their natural progress is to and from Finland and Siberia, through the Continent of Europe to and from the east and south. In autumn they pass more east, both because they are aided by west winds, and because the marshes in the east of Europe are wetter in that season; and in spring they return, but a larger proportion through Italy, where they are carried by the Sirocco, and which at that time is extremely wet. Come, let us have another bottle of claret: a pint per man is not too much after such a day's fatigue. "HAL. You have made me president for these four days, and I forbid it. A half pint of wine for young men in perfect health is enough, and you will be able to take your exercise better, and feel better for this abstinence. How few people calculate upon the effects of constantly renewed fever in our luxurious system of living in England! The heart is made to act too powerfully, the blood is thrown upon the nobler parts, and with the system of wading adopted by some sportsmen, whether in shooting or fishing, is delivered either to the hemorrhoidal veins, or, what is worse, to the head. I have known se"PHYS.-I never ate better; but I veral free livers who have terminated their want the Harvey or Reading sauce. "HAL. Now take your places. What think you of our fish? "HAL.-Pray let me entreat you to use no other sauce than the water in which he was boiled. I assure you this is the true Epicurean way of eating fresh salmon and for the trout, use only a little vinegar and mustard, a sauce à la Tartare, without the onions. "POIET.-Well, nothing can be better; and I do not think fresh net-caught fish can be superior to these. "HAL. And these snipes are excellent. Either my journey has given me an appetite, or I think they are the best I ever tasted. "ORN. They are good, but I have tasted better. Be lives by apoplexy, or have been rendered miserable by palsy, in consequence of the joint effects of cold feet and too stimulating a diet; that is to say, as much animal food as they could eat, with a pint or perhaps a bottle of wine per day. guided by me, my friends, and neither drink nor wade. I know there are old men who have done both, and have enjoyed perfect health; but these are devil's decoys to the unwary, and ten suffer for one that escapes. I could quote to you an instance from this very county, one of the strongest men I have ever known. He was not intemperate, but he lived luxuriously, and waded as a salmon fisher for many years in this very river; but, before he |