By SETON GORDON, C. B. E. (Collins "New Naturalist", London, 1955). 246 pages, 17 photographs. 16s. `A MONOGRAPH on the Golden Eagle [Aquila chrysaetos] in Scotland is long overdue and who could have produced a better one than Seton Gordon? For half a century the author has studied and written about eagles, and now The Golden Eagle: King of Birds summarizes this work of a life-time. Seton Gordon, as always, has an eye for atmosphere; and the special atmosphere of the Golden Eagle and the countryside in which it lives comes over vividly. The author rarely states precisely where his eyries are, but again and again one realises that one knows the very spot В­ the eyrie high on the forbidding crag in North Harris, and the other where three eaglets were reared for several years running. `The first half of the book deals with topics and includes the Golden Eagle in winter and in falconry, its food, nesting and hunting habits, flight and enemies. The author, like his subject, ranges far and he has collected much information, published and unpublished, on Golden Eagles in other lands... The book is illustrated by many excellent photographs by the author and others. There is an appendix on races of the Golden Eagle and on its status in many countries. A bibliography lists some quite obscure publications, but does not include two notes in The Scottish Naturalist on the food of eagles in south-west Scotland... `This book by a veteran field naturalist