520 THE BALD EAGLE. 



bird a 1)it of nu'at imw and tlu-n. Resides lliat, it preys oftenest on fish, and 

 dead fisli al thai. "W'fll, anyhdw. it has been l<no\vn to attack chikhx-n." 

 Yes; there are tun nr tln'ee weh auiht'iilit'ated instances in American history 

 (one of which 1 shall relate presently i in which Eagles have mistaken babies 

 for meat. lUit vou don't shoot }'our fellow-men at sight liecanse some of 

 ihem are kidnap])ers. do yi)n ? No; yon slmot the I'.agle with \-our 30-30 

 bullet for the same reason that Omph diil widi his flaked flint; viz., because 

 he is big. Reing liig and predatory, he has become the symbol of prowess, 

 ])()wer, dominion. Ergo, it is a jirnnd thing to kill him. Vou are bigger 

 than the Itagle. L^nijuestionably ! /Vlso smaller, because you arc supposed 

 to know lietter. \Mien the man who begins his story at the club with "I 

 killed an Eagle once." is hissed roundl_\-. as he ought to be, then, and nut till 

 then, will this senseless slaughter cease. 



v^a\e where driven to the mountains l)v persecution, Raid Eagles are 

 birds of the lowlands, and especialK- of the water-side. Fifty years ago they 

 existed on Puget Sound and along the banks of the Columbia in almost incred- 

 ible numbers. Here they had no need to plunder the Osprey, as has been 

 so often recited; for thev ctmld i>]>l;iin .all tlie fisli the\" wanted at first hand, 

 either bv posting on the shallows and seizing salmon as they ran. or by glean- 

 ing along shore among the weakened and exhausted fish which were cast up 

 in windrows at the close of the season. Twenty years ago this Eagle was 

 still a common sight along the shores and waterways of Puget Sound His 

 white licad lighted up the depths of some wood-bound lake as we stepped 

 fiirth to size up the local bird ])opulation, an<l his majestic flight repeatedly 

 gladdened a tramp along the river trail. Now, all is changed. One may go 

 out in the o]:)en for a week at a time without ever seeing an Eagle; and the 

 only place I know where one may coiuit with an\- certainty upon seeing two 

 Eagles in a day, is along the still unfrequented western coast. Perha])s there 

 are those wliose onlv aft'ections are for "Dickey birds," but give me lack the 

 Eagle. Keneu, the great war-eagle, majestic, romantic, kingly — with all his 

 faults. 



There can be little doubt tliat the E.agle of western W^ashington is less 

 offensive than his relati\'es in the interior or fmlher east. The mildness of 

 the climate and the comparati\c abmnl.-ince of food have thus reacted upon 

 his character for his betterment. ]\lr. Rowles records an instance which he 

 personally vouches for, on Cape Cod, Mass., where an Eagle attacked an 

 infant. The l.)irds were common thereabouts, owing to the fall run of her- 

 ring. A v\''oman, luu'ing left her baby creeping about in a nearby clo\'er field, 

 was |)icking lil.ackberries near the water-side. Suddenly she was startled by 

 the screams of the child, and horrified to see a large Eagle dragging it along 

 the gromid in attemi^t to fly with it. Rusliing u]) she succeeded in frighten- 

 ing the bird till it dropped the liabw wlii'n she found to her relief that the 



