HAWKS AND EAGLES. 389 



wings, till he gradually disappears in the distant blue ether. 

 Seen gliding in easy circles over the high shores and moun- 

 tainous cliffs that tower above the Hudson and Susque- 

 hanna, he attracts the eye of the intelligent voyager, and adds 

 great interest to the scenery. At the great cataract of Niag- 

 ara, already mentioned, there rises from the gulf into which 

 the falls of the Horse-shoe descends, a stupendous column of 

 smoke, or spray, reaching to the heavens, and moving off in 

 large black clouds, according to the direction of the wind, 

 forming a very striking and majestic appearance. The Eagles 

 are here seen sailing about, sometimes losing themselves in 

 this thick column, and again reappearing in another place, 

 with such ease and elegance of motion as renders the whole 

 truly sublime. 



" ' High o'er the watery uproar, silent seen, 

 Sailing sedate in majesty serene, 

 Now midst the sprays sublimely lost, 

 And now, emerging, down the rapids tost. 

 Glides the Bald Eagle, gazing, calm and slow, 

 O'er all the horrors of the scene below ; 

 Intent alone to sate himself with blood. 

 From the torn victims of the raging flood.' " 



Wilson elsewhere says ; " The Eagle is said to live to a 

 great age, sixty, eighty, and, as some assert, one hundred 

 years. This circumstance is remarkable, when we consider 

 the seeming intemperate habits of the bird. Sometimes fast- 

 ing, through necessity, for several days, and at other times 

 gorging itself with animal food till its craw swells out the 

 plumage of that part, forming a large protuberance on the 

 breast." 



The Bald Eagles do not invariably sail when flying, but 

 often progress by a continuous beating of the wings. They 

 also occasionally plunge through the air, even doing so, it has 

 been stated, from a height of several thousand feet, with a 

 loud rustle, which may be heard at a considerable distance. 

 Though notorious for their robbing of the Fish Hawks, they 

 sometimes condescend to fish for themselves in the manner of 

 those birds. This fact I have personally witnessed, and it 

 has been corroborated by other naturalists. They also attack 



