When the
eagle has captured a beast, it puts it down without attempting to
carry it off at once; if on trial it finds the burden too heavy, it
will leave it. When it has spied a hare, it does not swoop on it at
once, but lets it go on into the open ground; neither does it
descend to the ground at one swoop, but goes gradually down from
higher flights to lower and lower: these devices it adopts by way of
security against the stratagem of the hunter. It alights on high
places by reason of the difficulty it experiences in soaring up from
the level ground; it flies high in the air to have the more
extensive view; from its high flight it is said to be the only bird
that resembles the gods. Birds of prey, as a rule, seldom alight
upon rock, as the crookedness of their talons prevents a stable
footing on hard stone. The eagle hunts hares, fawns, foxes, and in
general all such animals as he can master with ease. It is a
long-lived bird, and this fact might be inferred from the length of
time during which the same nest is maintained in its place.
33
In Scythia there is found a bird as large as the great bustard.
The female lays two eggs, but does not hatch them, but hides them in
the skin of a hare or fox and leaves them there, and, when it is not
in quest of prey, it keeps a watch on them on a high tree; if any
man tries to climb the tree, it fights and strikes him with its
wing, just as eagles do.
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