THE BALD HEADED EAGLE. 



(5 HIS mighty bird of lofty flight 

 is a native of the whole of 

 North America, and may be 

 seen haunting the greater 

 portions of the sea coasts, as well 

 as the mouths of large rivers. He is 

 sometimes called the Whiteheaded 

 Kagle, the American Sea Eagle, the 

 Bird of Washington, the Washington 

 Eagle, and the Sea Eagle. On account 

 of thesnowy white of his head and neck, 

 the name Bald Eagle has been applied 

 to him more generally than any other. 



Sea-faring men are partial to young 

 Eagles as pets, there being a well 

 established superstition among them 

 that the ship that carries the " King 

 of Birds " can never go down. The 

 old Romans, in selecting the Eagle as 

 an emblem for their imperial standard, 

 showed this superstitious belief, regard- 

 ing him as the favorite messenger of 

 Jupiter, holding communion with 

 heaven. The Orientals, too, believed 

 that the feathers of the Eagle's tail 

 rendered their arrows invincible. The 

 Indian mountain tribes east of Ten- 

 nessee venerated the Eagle as their 

 bird of war, and placed a high value 

 on his feathers, which they used for 

 headdresses and to decorate their pipes 

 of peace. 



The United States seems to have an 

 abiding faith in the great bird, as our 

 minted dollars show. 



The nest of the Bald Eagle is usually 

 placed upon the top of a giant tree, 

 standing far up on the side of a moun- 

 tain, among myriads of twining vines, 

 or on the summit of a high inaccessi- 

 ble rock. The nest in the course of 

 years, becomes of great size as the 

 Eagle lays her eggs year after year in 

 the same nest, and at each nesting 

 season adds new material to the old 



nest. It is strongly and comfortably 

 built with large sticks and branches, 

 nearly flat, and bound together with 

 twining vines. The spacious interior 

 is lined with hair and moss, so minutely 

 woven together as to exclude the wind. 

 The female lays two eggs of a brown- 

 ish red color, with many dots and 

 spots, the long end of the egg tapering 

 to a point. The parents are affection- 

 ate, attend to their young as long as 

 they are helpless and' unfledged, and 

 will not forsake them even though the 

 tree on which they rest be enveloped 

 in flames. When the Eaglets are 

 ready to fly, however, the parents push 

 them from the perch and trust them to 

 the high atmospheric currents. They 

 turn them out, so to speak, to shift for 

 themselves. 



The Bald Eagle has an accommo- 

 dating appetite, eating almost anything 

 that has ever had life. He is fond of 

 fish, without being a great fisher, pre- 

 ferring to rob the Fish-hawk of the 

 fruits of his skillful labor. Sitting 

 upon the side of a mountain his keen 

 vision surveys the plain or valley, and 

 detects a sheep, a young goat, a fat 

 turkey or rooster, a pig, a rabbit or a 

 large bird, and almost within an eye- 

 twinkle he descends upon his victim. 

 A mighty grasp, a twist of his talons, 

 and the quarry is dead long before the 

 Eagle lays it down for a repast. The 

 impetuosity and skill with which he 

 pursues, overtakes and robs the Fish- 

 hawk, and the swiftness with which 

 the Bald Eagle darts down upon and 

 seizes the booty, which the Hawk has 

 been compelled to let go, is not the 

 least wonderful part of this striking 

 performance. 



The longevity of the Eagle is very 

 great, from 80 to 160 years. 



