Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-01-26
E>GLAND.s GOLDEN EAGLES.
They Have Been Preserved Until The,
Are n Nuisance.

They Have Been Preserved Until They
Are n Nuisance.
From the London Standard
Golden eagles are rare enough in Eng
land, and we always regret when we learn
that a beautiful specimen has been shot, by
some thoughtless sportsman game
keeper. But there parts of the kingdom
where they have been protected to an I'M
reasonable extent. We see that the county
council Of Ross-shire has been obliged to
rescind its decree against the destruction
OF the golden eagle on account of the num-
Der of lambs carried off by these rapa-
cious birds. The golden eagle feeds gen
orally on hares rabbits, grouse and ptar-
migan and where these are in sufficient
abundance to satisfy its wants, it will not,
as a rule, prey on either lambs or fawns.
But where its favorite diet is not plentiful
enough, it will extend its raVages to the
sheeDwalk and the deer forest. and when
hard pressed will set upon ful-grawn ami
mails. OF course, the more numerous the
mouths to be filed, the greater difficulty
will there be in preventing these birds from
committing the offenses of which the Ross
shire council has at last found it necessary
to take notice.
If golden eagles are allowed to multiply
to any extent, then unless hares, rabbits
and grouse increase in proportion, it fol-
lows, a matter of course that more
Hence the complaint of the Scotch shep-
herd. which has ended by making this
splendid bird of prey once more an outlaw.
But in the present day. whatever may
have been the case formerly, there seems
little fear of his extinction. Grouse is not
the food which he prefers, and though un-
doubleday, he destroys a certain number
every season, hares and rabbits, which
sportsmen do not care so much about ere
his staple meal Eagles, consequently are
by no means Unfortunately destroyed
either on the moor or in the forest 1t is
sometimes said the birds of prey useful
on the former, as they pick off the weaker
or sickly birdS and leave only healthy
ones to breed. This is doubted by some au-
thoritfes on the subject. Sim, they are
regarded by many sportsnen natures
police and grouse, like some other kinds
of game, are thought to thrive all the bet
ter. and to be all the stronger and harder,
IT they have to struggle for their existence.
But this theory by no means carries with
1t the conclusion that all eagles, kites and
peregrines should be left entirely unmo-
Tested. We note to what results this has
led in Ross-shire: and it would be perfectly
impossible to preserve grouse unless these
birds were kept within reasonable limits
The fact is that medium course is here,
as elsewhere, the right course. Both the
over-preservation and the over-destruction
of our feathered raptores a mistake.
And If county councils and other faddists
would leave them alone, this Is truth
which would be generally recognized If
eagles were not in such numbers as to
make it necessary for them to attack
lambs, they would hardly care to carry
anything heavy through the air. AS
Stunning that the difference in weight be-
tween an average lamb and an average
sized mountain hare is between two and
three pounds, this would make consider
able difference to the eagle. OF course, he
can carry even small child, if we accept
the legend from which the crest Of, the
Stanley family. the Bird and BantIing,"
otherwise THE Eagle and Child" is de-
rived. But he must have been allowed to
multiply to a prodigious extent in Ross
shire If his depredations among the sheep
have actually compelled the county coun-
Gil to withdraw their protection from him.
The fact, however. only shows, as we have
said. the rapidity with which birds of prey
Will increase to a Inischievous amount
when left to breed and feed where they
please with perfect impunity. What we
have here said of the golden eagle is equal
ly true Of those smaller birds whose wan
ton destruction by gamekeepers and others
Is sometimes very properly denounced
They must be thinned, or they would be-
come nuisances. But that is no reason
why they should be exterminated Nor
is 1t a fact that we owe the disappear-
ance of ravens and kites exclusively to
game preserves. The farmers rose upon
them. And the destruction of woods and
forests. together with the intrusion of man
upon their wild haunts. Is still more an
swerabe for their virtual extinction.