THE BALD EAGLE. 1 29 



this time our attention has been called to the " poor incar- 

 cerated white-headed eagles ' ' which excited his interest 

 and sympathy, and of which he wrote as follows : 



"The female white-headed eagle {Haliaetos leucoccpha- 

 Itcs) laid her first Qgg on the 5th of April, 1845, and a sec- 

 ond on the 8th of the same month, on a rough nest, com- 

 posed of litter and twigs, &c., on the floor of her apart- 

 ment in the eagle-hut at the garden in the Regent's Park. 



" What a prison for a bird whose home is on the rock 

 that shoots up from the lake, or the cliffs which overhang 

 the mighty river or the wide sea ! Niagara is a favorite 

 resort of the white-headed, or bald eagle — the latter appel- 

 lation a misnomer, for no bird has a better feathered head. 

 There it sits or soars on the watch for the fish, and also 

 for the carcases of squirrels, deer, bears, and other quad- 

 rupeds, which, in their attempts to cross the river above 

 the falls, have been- caught by the current and dashed 

 down those awful cataracts. 



"It is a very powerful bird, three feet long, and seven 

 in alar extent ; and has been seen fij'ing off with a lamb 

 ten days old ; but it let the pre}- fall from a height of ten 

 or twelve feet, in consequence of its struggles and the 

 shouts of the spectator, who ran with loud halloos after 

 the depredator ; the poor lamb's back, however, was brok- 

 en by the crushing swoop. Nay, a white-headed eagle 

 has been known to seize and throw down an infant, and 

 drag it for a short distance, when the cries of the mother, 

 who had set down the little innocent to amuse itself while 

 she weeded her garden, and the giving wa^^ of the child's 

 dress, a portion of which the eagle bore off, saved its life. 

 Thus was a second scene of the "Bird and Bantling" 

 happily cut short. 



"It will also attack old and sickly sheep, aiming furi- 

 ously at their eyes. 



"In short, he is the most determined brigand, whose 



