ducts of the chase. It often carries off geese and cranes, and not unfrequently attacks the swan with success. Hares, lambs, kids, and even fawns and calves, have fallen victims to its terrible talons. In some instances, even children, when left unguarded, have been carried off by the eagle. 4. The story of the Scottish babe that was rescued from the eagle's nest by its mother is full of interest. The people of a village in Scotland were out in the field making hay, and amongst them was a mother who laid her sleeping babe on a bundle of hay, while she proceeded with her work. An eagle from the distant heights saw the child, and darting down, seized it in an instant and bore it off. 5. The consternation of the poor mother can be easily imagined. She saw the eagle bear the baby to its nest among the heights of Ben Nevis. A brave sailor, who happened to be there, started in pursuit; but the mother, almost maddened with despair, seizing her sickle, rushed towards the hills, and soon outstripped the sailor. The mountain was both steep and rugged; she leaped from rock to rock, and where there was no place for her feet she held fast by the roots of the plants. At last she reached the nest, and there among the young eaglets was her babe lying uninjured. 6. The old eagle flew screaming round her head, but she kept it off with her sickle. Having bound her infant to her waist with her shawl, with great difficulty she made the descent. When she had got a considerable way down she saw her friends, who had come to meet her; and we can imagine their great joy when they found both mother and child unhurt. 7. The eagle in hunting is both brave and bold. Sometimes it has been known to carry off the hare from before the very noses of the hounds. It likewise shows no little skill in fishing, pouncing upon salmon and other fish, and carrying them off either to satisfy its own hunger or to feed its young. Sometimes, however, it strikes its talons into a fish which is too heavy to be borne off, and, being unable to release itself, is carried under water. 8. The eagle makes its nest, which is several feet square and composed of a collection of strong sticks, among the inaccessible parts of rocks. Here the female bird lays two, and sometimes three eggs. When the young birds are hatched they are watched and tended with great care by their parents, who bring in an ample store of provisions to feed them from the country round. When the young ones arrive at a certain age, the parent birds take them from the nest and teach them to fly. Just as young children are afraid at first to trust themselves on their legs, so young eagles seem afraid to trust to their own wings until, trained by their parents, they have found out their own strength. 9. Sir Humphry Davy saw a couple exercise their young on Ben Nevis. They took a short flight around the top of the mountain, which movement the young ones imitated; they then gradually made the circle of their flight larger and larger, rising all the time, until at length they were quite out of A STORM AT SEA. 1. A terrible storm is sweeping along the coast of Devonshire. The Teignmouth life-boat is preparing to make its way to a foreign vessel which, at some short distance from the land, is showing signs of dire distress. 2. The life-boat crew is complete with the exception of one man. Young Ned Carey, a Teignmouth fisher lad and an expert sailor, is offering to fill the vacant place. But first he bends down gently to a woman who stands beside him, and says to her in a clear, brave voice, "Mother, you will let me go?" 3. The mother had been a widow only six months. Her husband was a fisherman. He put out one bright day last spring for the last time in a fishingboat upon a calm sea. A sudden squall came on; broken fragments of the boat were seen next morning, but the fisherman returned no more. 4. A fierce refusal rises to the woman's lips. But her sad eyes move slowly towards the distressed vessel. She thinks of the many loved lives in danger within it, and of many distant homes in peril of bereavement. She turns to her boy, and in a voice calm and courageous as his own, "Go, my son," said she, "and may God bring you safe back to your mother's heart." 5. Hurriedly she leaves the beach, and seeks her desolate home; and alone she thinks of her old sorrow and of her new fear. 6. Morning dawns again. The storm has spent itself. The waves are tossing their heads, but the worst fury of the sea is over. A fine vessel has gone down upon the waters, but the Teignmouth life-boat has nobly fulfilled its noble task, and all hands on board the vessel have been saved. 7. Why does Ned Carey linger in hesitation outside his mother's door? He has shown himself the bravest of the brave throughout the night. Why does he shrink from the proud welcome that awaits him from the heart nearest to his own? 8. Beside him stands a tall worn man; a man whom he has rescued from a watery grave; a man whose eyes, full of tenderness, never leave his own. Around the two, throng Teignmouth villagers. Many hands are thrust towards the man in happy recognition. "Who will dare to tell her?" So speaks a voice well nigh choked with emotion. "I 10. The eagle was regarded by the ancient Greeks as the bird of Jupiter, the carrier of the lightning, and thereby expressive of sole dominion. In this sense it has been used as the symbol of nations and cities, and kings and armies. Napoleon chose the Roman eagle as his banner. America, Austria, Prussia, Russia, Spain, and a number of other smaller nations, display it on their flags. All this goes to prove that man instinctively admires courage and aspires to dominion. reg-u-lar-ly dis-tin-guish de-scrib-ed pro-ducts scream-ing suc-ces-sion res-cued ex-er-cise de-scent height pur-suit pounc-ing do-min-i-on Which is the most celebrated kind of eagle? Where is it still found? Describe the colour of the body, head and neck, and tail. What kind of beak and toes has this bird? How has its flight been described? How does it sweep through the air? What kind of sight has it? When will it only eat carrion? What birds and animals |