3 8! BIRDS IN LEGEND 



golden eagle — a Bird of Freedom indeed. (Audubon 

 named a western variety of it after General Washington.) 

 This species was regarded with extreme veneration by 

 the native redmen of this country. "Its feathers," says 

 Dr. Brinton, the ethnologist, "composed the war-flag of 

 the Creeks, and its image, carved in wood, or its stuffed 

 skin, surmounted their council-lodges. None but an ap- 

 proved warrior dare wear it among the Cherokees, and 

 the Dakotas allowed such an honor only to him who 

 first touched the corpse of the common foe. The 

 Natchez and other tribes regarded it almost as a deity. 

 The Zuni of New Mexico employed four of its feathers 

 to represent the four winds when invoking the raingod." 

 Hence a war-song of the O jib ways reported by School- 

 craft : 



Hear my voice ye warlike birds ! 



I prepare a feast for you to batten on; 



I see you cross the enemy's lines; 



Like you I shall go. 



I wish the swiftness of your wings; 



I wish the vengeance of your claws; 



I muster my friends; 



I follow your flight. 



Doesn't this sound like a bit from the Saga of Harold 

 Hadrada ? 



Mexico did better in choosing her crested eagle, the 

 harpy ( Thrasaetus harpia),& magnificent representative of 

 its race, renowned from Paraguay to Mexico for its hand- 

 some black-and-white plumage adorned with a warrior's 

 crest, and for its grand flight, dauntless courage and 

 amazing endurance. Quesada tells us that the Aztecs 

 called it the winged wolf. The princes of Tlascala wore 

 its image on their breasts and on their shield as a symbol 



