278 ANNUAL KEPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 192-1 



very much bored; with the glasses I could see that his mandibles 

 opened just a little at each thrust. In all such cases the eagle can 

 well afford to adopt a policy of indifference ; but when a small hawk 

 at Vermilion this year tried the same tactics it met with a quick 

 surprise, for after dodging a number of times, the eagle opened its 

 talons and with one thrust suddenly stopped the game and barely 

 missed the hawk. Under certain conditions the eagle, as already 

 intimated, may appear to be wary, suspicious, and timid to the last 

 degree, but, as we have also seen, such conditions do not always 

 prevail. Both adult and young birds, when hard pressed on the 

 ground, or for any cause unable to fly, can put up a stiff fight against 

 any assailant. 



