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HALLztTus LEUCOCEPHALUS—Linn—W HITE-HEADED OR BALD EAGLE. 
Wilson’s Am. Orn., IV., pl. 86; Audubon’s B. of Am., oct. ed., L, 
pl. 14. 
This EKagle was of more frequent occurrence during the early settlement 
of Ohio, than at the present day. Yet at this time they are not rare, as 
scarcely a season passes during which several are not killed on the Lake 
shore. In the last five years, we have seen three or four specimens that 
were cbtained in the neighborhood of Cleveland. None of our Hagles 
have so wide a range as this, It has been found from the Atlantic to the 
Pacific coasts, and from the Gulf of Mexico to the shores of Hudson’s Bay. 
The Bald Eagle is remarkable for its great strength and daring. It pro- 
vides well for its young, and has a life-long attachment for its mate. The 
nest is always built in the forks of some tall tree, and the chosen locality 
is seldom deserted during the life of the pair. Year after year this spot is 
their home, and in this first nest they raise their young. They breed very 
early, laying two or three eggs of a dull white color, and rounded alike at 
both ends. These hatch in about three weeks, and the young are covered 
with a soft, cottony down. When fully fledged, the young have not the 
peculiar white markings of the adult bird, and it is not until they are from 
three to five years of age, that the feathers of the head and tail become 
white. When in immature state, the bird is commonly known as the Grey 
or Brown Eagle, from the uniform color of the plumage. The young 
breed the first year after they leave the nest, and it often occurs that an 
adult bird is found mated to a young one. This occurs when the former 
partner of the old one has been killed or has died. 
With all the strength and vigor which this Eagle possesses, he is a mean 
tyrant, utterly unworthy of the honor bestowed in selecting him as the 
emblem of our country. His habits accord better with those of a filli- 
buster, or robber, and we think with Franklin, that the selection was a 
poor one. During the summer he watches the motions of the Fish-hawk— 
Pandion Halictus—and when the latter has by its industry secured a fish, 
the Eagle gives chase, and overtaking the hawk, compels it, through fear, 
to relinquish its prey. This is no sooner done, than our robber bears off 
the prize to its nest in the woods. When it cannot obtain fish in this 
manner, it feeds on such as are thrown ashore. Italso attacks pigs, lambs, 
rabbits, and such of our wild animals as it can conquer. The water-fowl 
