FALCONID^ — THE FALCONS. 331 



especially near the headwaters of some of the rivers. He was told by his 

 guide, Westfall, that in passing a distance of forty miles he had noticed 

 eight nests. It also breeds on the Altacosa. Dr. Woodhouse found these 

 birds, but nowhere very abundant, from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific, 

 along his entire route, and Dr. Coues observed them near Fort Whipple. 



The statements of Temminck that this Eagle has been taken accidentally 

 in Central Europe, Switzerland, and Germany, and also that it breeds in 

 Northwestern Europe, are not now credited ; and more recent scrutiny of 

 these supposed facts cast discredit upon them, and show that there is no 

 well-autlienticated instance of its having been detected in Europe. 



The White-headed Eagle appears to be equally well adapted by nature for 

 the endurance of heat or cold, and is apparently indifferent to either. Its 

 residence is influenced only by its abundance of food, especially that of fish ; 

 and it seems to matter very little whether that plenty is procurable within 

 the Arctic Circle or on the coast and rivers of Florida and Texas. In places 

 like the Falls of Niagara, where the stream is ever liable to contribute the 

 remains of animals destroyed by the descent of the torrent, this Eagle is espe- 

 cially abundant. Unscrupulous, greedy, voracious, not select in its choice 

 of food, and capable of providing for itself when necessity compels, we find 

 this not altogether unsuitable emblem of our country now enacting the 

 tyrant and robber and plundering the Fishhawk of the fruits of its in- 

 dustry, now sharing with the Eaven and the Vulture the dead salmon of 

 the Columbia, and in other places diving for and catching its own fish. The 

 impetuosity and skill with which it pursues, overtakes, and robs the Fish- 

 hawk, bearing off a fish it has just taken, must be witnessed to be appreci- 

 ated ; and the swiftness with which the Eagle can dart down upon and seize 

 the booty, which the Hawk has been compelled to let fall, before it reaches 

 the water, is not the least wonderful feature of this striking performance. 

 On the banks of the Columbia, where there are no Fishhawks to depend 

 upon, this bird finds an easy subsistence on the vast numbers of dead and 

 dying salmon which abound ; and in Florida Mr. Allen has observed it 

 dive and catch its own fish. This is also confirmed by the statements of 

 other naturalists. Wilson also accuses this Eagle of destroying great num- 

 bers of young pigs in the Southern States, young lambs, and even sickly 

 sheep ; and in one instance it attempted to carry off a child, which was only 

 saved by its dress giving way. 



The White-headed Eagle breeds along the Atlantic coast from the St. Law- 

 rence to Florida, and thence westward to Mexico along the coast and among 

 the tributaries of the Gulf. In the interior it breeds as far north as the 

 Arctic Circle. 



Eichardson states that it abounds in the watery districts of Eupert's Land, 

 and a nest may be looked for within every twenty or thirty miles. Each 

 pair appropriates a certain range of country, on which they are said to suffer 

 no intruders of their own species to encroach ; but the nest of the Osprey is 



