Concept
Eagle
Overview
Eagle is the common name for certain large birds of prey within the family of the Accipitridae. While on a genetic level, only the subfamily Aquilinae comprises "true eagles", many other species are commonly referred to as eagles, such as the bald eagle, and the term generally carries no taxonomic weight. Most of the 68 species of eagles are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just 14 species can be found—two in North America, nine in Central and South America, and three in Australia.
Eagles are not a natural group but denote essentially any kind of bird of prey large enough to hunt sizeable (about 50 cm long or more overall) vertebrates.
Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).
In the original texts
Passages from public-domain books where Eagle is discussed.
Of all the birds with which we are acquainted, the eagle is looked upon as the most noble, and the most remarkable for its strength. There are six different kinds; the one called "melanaetos" or black eagle by the Greeks, and "valeria" in our language, the least in size of them all, but the most remarkable for its strength, is of a blackish color. It is the only one among all the eagles that feeds its young; for the…
the Elder Pliny, The Boys' and Girls' Pliny
names the idea; a chapter is titled for it; states what it is; opens on it
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.
Aristotle, Aristotle's History of Animals In Ten Books
states what it is; names the idea; opens on it
Duvaucel, female Hylobates washing her young. Dyaks, pride of, in mere homicide. Dynastes, large size of males of. Dynastini, stridulation of. Dytiscus, dimorphism of females of; grooved elytra of the female. Eagle, young Cercopithecus rescued from, by the troop. Eagle, white-headed, breeding in immature plumage. Eagles, golden, new mates found by. Ear, motion of the; external shell of the, useless in man…
Charles Darwin, The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex
names the idea
But he must not stop there, at that small success, with his eagle-eye. He has now a second far greater success to gain: to seek out his real superiors, whom not the Tailor but the Almighty God has made superior to him, and see a little what he will do with these! Rebel against these also?
Thomas Carlyle, Past and Present Thomas Carlyle's Collected Works, Vol. XIII.
names the idea; opens on it
By the expressions, “the face of an ox,” “the face of a lion,” “the face of an eagle” (Ezek, i. 10), the prophet describes a human face inclining towards the forms of these various species. This interpretation can be supported by two proofs. First, the prophet says of the Ḥayyot in general that “their appearance is this, they have the form of man” (ver.
Moses Maimonides, The guide for the perplexed
names the idea
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Place in the tradition
Part of Shamanism.