Song Birds and Water Fowl 
has a good relish for a duck. At first I was 
uncertain of the species, for bald and golden 
eagles have much the same general appearance 
at a distance ; but when one, in particular, of 
these two specimens came into close range, I 
could see the pure white tail and neck, which 
are characteristic features of the bald eagle’s 
plumage. His companion was quite dark 
throughout—I judged, the heir apparent, the 
prince in his first year. 
The beholder sometimes almost feels a touch 
of terror in this bird’s vindictivesilence; and 
an eagle’s scream, a ragged fracture of barbaric 
sound, is probably the most discordant note 
that ever pierces the empyrean. And who 
would have it otherwise? Not every state of 
heart can be translated into song. Whoever 
knows the butcher-bird will say that its coarse, 
defiant cry is the only adequate expression of 
its savage nature. Individuality is the most in- 
teresting aspect of every object in creation ; 
and this is possessed by the songless species as 
fully as by any bird of melody. One may study 
a villain as eagerly as he would a saint; and 
sometimes the villain has the best of it, in power 
of sustaining the interest. A vice is as prolific 
a text for thought as a virtue; and the orni- 
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