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THe browne or yeallow Eagle after Aristotles opinion, is called in gréek Guyseon, which doth signifie in the French tong (kindly & no bastard born) becaus it is of al other kinds of eagles, the true & right eagle, & he doth cal him by ye gréek word Chrysaitos, by reason of his goldē mayle, & in latin he is termed
Stellaris, and Herodus. This is that Eagle, whome we call the Eagle royall, king of birds, and sometimes the bird of Iupiter, and that Eagle which ought to bee taken and accounted the principall best, being more huge and large then the rest, and besides more rare & dainty to be séene. For she doth haunt most commonly the toppes of high and craggie mountatnes, and doth there prey vpon all sorts of fowles, as also Hares, kidds, Goats, & such other like wild and sauage beasts of the field.
This Eagle doth liue alwayes solitary and alone, vnlesse happily she hath her broode with her, whome she doth conduct and guide from place to place, the better to instruct them how to kill their prey, and féed themselues. But no sooner hath shée made them perfect, & throughly scoled them therein, but presēt∣ly she chaseth them out of that coast, & doth abandon them the place where they were eyred, and will in no wise brooke thē to abide néere her, to the end, that the country where she disclo∣seth and maketh her eyrie, be not vnfurnished of conuenient prey, which by the number & excessiue store of Eagles, might otherwise be spoyled and made bare. For it is very likely, that if her brood and increace should there make stay, being so huge birds, and of so great rauine, there would in short space lacke prey for her selfe, and by meane thereof bréede her to a father euill and mischiefe: for the auoyding of which, this pro∣uident and carefull fowle doth presently force her brood to de∣part into some other part and Region.
This Eagle may with ease be discerned from the Vulture, because this Eagle Royall, being browne, or yellow maylde, hath not her arms or féet in any cōdition couered with plume, as the Vulture hath.
True it is, that the arme of the Eagle is short, yellow mayld & all beset with scales, ye pounces large, her beake blacke, long, and crooked at the top. The traine of the Eagle Royall, as also the traine of the slender blacke Eagle is short and stife at the poynt, euen as the traine of the Vulture is.
The Eagle is alwayes of oneselfe hugenesse, in respect of her nature, and it cānot be said, in that she is an Eagle, that she is
eyther larger or lesser, at any one time or other, vnlesse you giue her the surname and addition of blacke, yellow, or some other such proper name and tesme, which doth alter her accor∣ding to her accidents, but nothing at all in regard of her sub∣stance and nature. And were it not that she is so massy a fowl and not portable on the fist, (as in troth she is exceding huge) and besides, it is so hard and difficult a matter to prouide her prey and food, Princes & puissant States, would more vsual∣ly haue her, and hawke with her for their solace and pleasure, than they now do. But by reason she is so hugh and ventrous, she might happily offer force and violence to the eyes and face of her kéeper, if at any time she should conceiue displeasure a∣gainst him. And for this cause cheiflie, the Eagle is not in vse, as other meaner howkes, and of lesse force be in these days.
Hée that will haue the Eagle to be good and tractable, must deuise to take her an Eyesse in the Eirie, māning and accusto∣ming her among houndes and greyhoundes, to the end that when hée goeth and addresseth him to the field, the Eagle soa∣ring aloft ouer the hounds starting the game, Fox, Hare, gote or such like beasts of the wood, she making her downe-come, & stooping from her wings, may so stay, & seaze vopn the game, vntil the dogs come in, and procure the fall thereof. A man may féed her with any kind of flesh, and chiefly of such game and prey, as shée slayeth in the field by flight.
Tawnye or browne mayle in an Eagle, déepe and hallow eyes, specially if she bée bread in the west parts of the whrld, is an assured signe of her goodnesse: for the tawnie Eeale is euer found good in proofe.
Also the whitenes on the head of an Eagle, or on her backe, is a singular token of an excellent Eagle.
That Eagle, that when shée fleeth from the fist of her kéeper, wil eyther flée vpon the man, soaring round about him, or light on the ground, and take the stand, is by all probability & con∣iectture, no inward Eagle, but a fugitiue, and a rangler.
At what time the Eagle displayes her traine in her flight, & makes a turne in her mounty, it is a very great signe that shée
determineth to flye on head, and gadde: the next remedy for which mischiefe, is to throw her out her meat, & lure her with as loude a voyce as you possible may. And if it be so, that shée then stoope not to that which is cast out vnto her, then eyther hath she ouer gorged her selfe, or otherwise shée is too hie, & too full of flesh. A meane to auoide this inconuenience, is to sowe the feathers of her train together, to ye end she may not spread them abroad, nor vse the benefite of her traine feathers in her flight. Or else another way is, to deplume and make bare her tuell and fundament so as it may appeare, and then certainly for feare of the colde ayre she will not aduenture to mount so hie: but féeling her traine feathers fast sowed together, she wil stand in awe of other Eagles, whome by the meane of that de∣uice and practise, she shall in no wise be able to avoide.
When the Eagle maketh a short turne vpon her kéeper in her flight, & flieth not out aforehead, that is one principall good token that she will not away.
It hath béen sayd, that an Eagle is of force to arrest, and cause a Wolfe to stay, and will take him, with the aid and as∣sistance of doggs, making in to her rescue, and that it hath béen séene and experimented. But for my part I finde the oddes of them so great, as I leaue the beleife of it to the Reader, not re∣citing it as a troth, but a thing written to shew the great har∣dinesse and vndaunted nature of the Eagle.
It is reported that the men of the country where the Eagle eyreth, knowing thereof, and intending to bereaue her young broode, doe arme and well furnish their heads, for feare least ye Eagle do offer them force and violence. And if so they shew the old bréeder one of her chickens, or tie it to the bough of a trée neare the place where shée buildeth, she will call and cause the damme to repaire thither by continuall cleping, who findeth her, and pitying her cries, will bring it so much prouision and prey, as he that commeth to take her from the eyrie, shal there dayly be sped of as much flesh and prouision as will very rea∣sonably serue him and sixe others. For the old Eagle will con∣uey thither hares, Conies, fowles, and such other like vittel, &
viands, for the supply of her necessity.
The Eagle doth not commonly vse to prey nere vnto her eyrie, but to kill her prouision abroad as farre off as shée may. And if so it happen, shée leaue any flesh after shee is full gorged, that doth she reserue carefully for the next day, to the end that if foule weather should happily grow to hinder her flight, yet she might be stored of sufficient prey for the day following, without any further trauell.
An Eagle doth not forsake or change her Eyrie all her life time, but of custome doth yearely returne, and make repayre to one selfe place, and there buildeth most assuredly, by meane whereof it hath béen noted and obserued in times past, that an Eagle doth liue very many yeares. Before her old age, her beake waxeth so exceding long and crooked at the topp, as shée is much hindered thereby of her féeding: in sort, as shée dyeth not of disease, or by extremity of age, but onely by reason shée cannot possiblie vse the benefite of her beake, being accrewd & growne to such an exceding length and disproportion. Wher∣of commeth the Prouerbe be as I take it, Aquila senectus, the age of an Eagle, which is properly applyed to men that doe liue onely by drinke, as old men are wont to doe.
The Eagle doth euer wage warre with the little Roytelet, whome the French men doe so tearme, for that this fowle is thought to be a little king among birds, as the Etimologie of the worde doth séeme to import, the Latines likewise they call him Regulus, and the Germanes a Golden line. Alls•• occasion and chiefe ground of this controuersie betwixt the Eagle and the Goldhenline is (by the report of Aristotle) onely vpon the name, for that she is called the king of birds: of which title & preheminence the Eagle would willingly bereaue her.
Againe, there is one other kind of little fowle, whome Ari∣stotle calleth a Sitta, the Latines Reptitatrix or Scandulaca, & the Frenchmen Grimperean, that doth the Eagle very great outrage, & offence, For no sooner perceiueth she the Eagle to be absent from the eyrie, but presently in great despight shée breaketh all her egs in péeces.
This little soule is cal∣led.
That o∣ther,
When I said before, that the Eagle royall was of a yellow mayle, I meant nothing else by that speech, but that the Eagle was mayld, of the very colour of a Dears haire, which is in déede not yellow, but browne or tawny. And albeit Aristotle for his pleasure, termed it by the Gréek word, Chrisatos, which is as much in effect as to say, ye Golden Eagle: yet must it not therefore be concluded, that this Eagle is of a right Golden mayle, but of a more browne or tawny mayle, then the other kind of Eagle is.
The Paynters and Statuaries of Rome haue disguised this Eagle in their portraytures, for euery man knoweth that it is farre otherwise, then they haue drawne it, As well the browne Eagles as the blacke, are skinned and vncased, as the Vultures be, and their skinnes rent to the Furryers and pellitors of Fraunce, with their wings, heades, and tallons, and euen of the same very co∣lour, as I haue here set it downe and decla∣red it vnto you.