THE AMERICAN EAGLE HERRICK 275 



beginning of this paper, virtually introduces a new element into 

 nest life, for it alters the behavior of the adults, and tends to pro- 

 long the time which the young spend at the aerie, as will be fully 

 explained at a later time. 



So far as is known, young eagles are never permitted to use the 

 home territory for breeding purposes unless by chance, at some 

 future time, one should become mated to a parent; according to 

 the testimony of other observers, after three weeks or more of semi- 

 independence, they are effectually driven off by the old birds, when 

 their powers of flight and of securing their own food have become 

 well established. 



To return to the first Danbury nest: One of the three eaglets, 

 taken by Mr. Tibbels in June, 1921, was possibly killed and was 

 certainly eaten by the other two; at the time of our visit one of the 

 survivors, though 13 months old, had never acquired the necessary 

 coordination for independent flight, and was still a captive. Any- 

 one who was confirmed in the belief that the emblem of his country 

 was in real life a timid creature and a coward at heart would have 

 revised his opinions after having attempted to approach and manage 

 this bird. When, after cautious manipulation, it was finally released 

 and set free upon the grass, it would endeavor to escape by making 

 long leaps and flapping its powerful wings, but it never seemed able 

 to rise much above the ground. When it was headed off and frustrated 

 in these attempts it would rush swiftly at its assailant, endeavoring 

 to strike with its extended talons, and at the same time to deliver 

 swift blows with the wrists of its wings; when too hard pressed, it 

 would throw itself back, and with erected head feathers and open 

 mandibles, like a hawk in a similar predicament, it would strike 

 fiercely with both feet. 



V 



As regards the reputed timidity or cowardice of the eagle, or 

 indeed any other animal, it is impossible to speak with any degree 

 of fairness without due consideration of individual differences, as 

 well as of differences in the same individual under different con- 

 ditions. Probably few people would care to meet a lion in the 

 open, particularly if unprepared for such an encounter; yet a 

 recent traveler, who walked 3,000 miles across tropical Africa, from 

 coast to coast, has declared that the " king of beasts " is " a terrible 

 coward, unless it is starving or has been injured." " I have seen 

 lions," he is reported to have said, " face to face, and the beasts 

 have raced away in terror." The difficulty with the lion, as with the 

 eagle, is in knowing whether the interview has been correctly timed. 

 ■ Fear is an instinct which nature has bestowed rather freely for 

 the protection of the individual and the preservation of the race: 



