1. There are several kinds of eagles. One which is called pygargus
(hen-harrier), which is found in plains and groves, and in the
vicinity of towns. Some persons call it nebrophonus. It is a courageous
bird, and flies to mountains, and woods also. The other kinds rarely
appear in plains and groves. There is another kind of eagle called
plangus, the second in point of size and strength, which lives among
thickets, and valleys, and marshes. It is called nettophonus and
morphnus. Of this kind Homer speaks at the departure of Priam.
2. There is another kind, which is black. It is smaller, and stronger
than the others. It inhabits mountains and woods. It is called
melanæetus, and lagophonus. This is the only one that rears and
educates its young. It is swift, elegant, liberal, fearless, warlike,
and of a good omen, for it neither cries nor screams. There is another
kind with spotted wings. It has a white head, and is the largest of all
eagles. Its wings are short, and its rump very long, like the vulture;
it is called oreipelargus, and hypæetus. It inhabits groves. It has all
the faults of the rest, and none of their good qualities; for it is
taken and pursued by ravens and other birds. It is a heavy bird, and
its mode of life is bad. It carries about dead creatures; it is always
hungry, and screams and cries.
3. There is another kind of eagle called sea eagle, which has a long
and thick neck, curved wings, and a wide rump. It inhabits the sea and
the coast. When they have seized their prey, and cannot carry it away,
they are borne down into the sea. There is, again, another kind of
eagle, called true eagle. They say that these alone of all other birds
are true, for the other kinds are mixed and crossed with each other,
both eagles, hawks, and other smaller kinds. This is the largest of all
the eagles, greater than the phene; one and a half times as large as
other eagles, and of a red colour: it is seldom seen, like that called
cymindis.
4. The time for the activity of the eagle, and for its flight, is from
dinner till the evening, for it sits aloft till the time when the
market-place begins to fill. When eagles grow old, their beaks become
more and more curved, so that at last they die of famine. The story
goes, that the eagle was once a man, and suffers this as a punishment
for inhospitality to a guest. Any superabundant food is put aside for
their young in their nests, for it is not easy for them to procure it
every day, and sometimes they have no place from whence to bring it.
5. If they find anyone attempting to take their nest, they beat them
with their wings, and tear them with their claws. They do not make
their nests in plains, but in high places, especially in precipitous
rocks, but never on trees. They rear their young till they can fly, and
then turn them out of their nests, and drive them to a great distance;
for one pair of eagles occupies a wide space of country, so that they
will suffer no others to live near them.
6. They do not hunt their prey near their nests, but at a considerable
distance; and when they have hunted and taken anything, they lay it
down and do not take it away at once, but carry it away when they have
tried its weight. They do not capture hares at once, but let them
escape to the plain. They do not descend to the plain at once, but with
large though gradually decreasing circles. They do this in order that
they may not be ensnared. They settle upon eminences, because they
cannot rise easily from the ground. They fly aloft, that they may see
the greater extent of country. For this cause men say that the eagle is
the only divine bird.
7. All birds with crooked claws avoid sitting upon rocks, for its
hardness is injurious to their claws. The eagle hunts fawns, hares, and
other animals which it is able to conquer. It is a long-lived bird.
This is plain from the long continuance of their nests in the same
place.
8. In Scythia there is a kind of bird as large as a bustard, which
produces two young ones. It does not sit upon its eggs, but hides them
in the skin of a hare or fox. It watches them from a neighbouring tree
all the while it is not engaged in hunting its prey. And if anyone
approaches them, it fights and strikes with its wings, like the eagle.