EAGLE SET FREE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 10, Issue 63, 16 December 1946, Page 5

EAGLE SET FREE

KING OF BIRDS DOZED r REASON. FOR SECRECY L— j Four-month-old battle for the release of a magnificent golden eagle, one of Britain’s rarest birds, from a cage in the London Zoo came to an end ten miles from the tiny seaside village of Brora, Sutherlandshire, in a wild, secret place, deep in a rain-soaked glen. From the gauntleted hand of the London Zoo’s head keeper, Hubert Jones, who had tended it on its 658mile journey from Euston, the tawny hunter flapped to freedom among the sombre smoky mountains. Zoo officials and members of the Scottish Society for the. Protection of Wild Birds agreed that the exact place, of the eagle’s release shall be a close secret. .

The reason: Since the eagle made headline news with its capture in April parties have been searching for the nesting-place of the birds to destroy their eggs. Farmers fear that golden eagles will seize their young lambs. < The captive hunter spread its wings to liberty close to the spot where, with its. leg caught . in a rabbit trap, ft was taken four months ago by lan Sutherland, on the estate of Mrs Walter Tyser, Fellow of the Royal. Zoological Society. , • After it was taken to the Zoo Mr James McKellar, secretary of the Wild Birds Protection Society, fought for' its release, quoting the law that protects wild .birds. With the help of the secretary of the Royal Society, the bird lover won his point, and was among the rain-drenched crowd whose applause echoed round the glen as the. eagle soared majestically through’ the raih.

During the, bird’s journey to triumphant freedom crowds flocked to see the wire-covered crate loaded On to the guard’s van at Euston. Inside, the eagle nestled in a bed of short straw, its talons curled round a low perch, with a freshly killed rabbit and a can of water handy. As the train sped .across the Scottish border Keeper . Jones inspected his charge. The King of Birds, travelling at ! owner’s risk for 12s 2d," was dozing peacefully. At Brora it was greeted enthusiastically by bird lovers, ornithologists, and friends of Mrs Tyser, and by the skirl of the Scottish pipes. The eagle said good-bye to /captivity from the top of the lorry, and came to. rest on a bracken-clad spur. Then, back across the glen, if came, soaring over the grazing sheep. It settled again on the other, side before sailing back southwards, to disappear finally through the misty veil of rain.