IMPERIAL EAGLE.— ^'i/KiJn Mogilnilc. 



tinged with red, and the tail is slightly barred. The eyes of this bird are hazel, and 

 the beak is yellowish except at the tip, which is black. 



The food of this bird consists naturally of kangaroos, bustards, and other beasts and 

 birds of its own country. Since sheep have been so plentifully bred in Australia, the 

 Bold Eagle has derived considerable advantage from tlie enterprise of the agriculturists, 

 and has become a perfect pest to the shepherds, from its fondness for mutton. In 

 consequence of its marauding propensities, it is hunted and persecuted in every way 

 by the colonists, but without much apparent result, as the bird is only driven farther 

 inland, and seems in a fair way to hold its own for many years to come. The young 

 cannot be taken, nor the eggs destroyed, as the bird always builds its nest on the 

 summit of some lofty tree, which is inaccessible to any human being except the native 

 Australian. These trees often rise for a hundred feet without a branch, thus presenting 

 an insurmountable obstacle to the efforts of any white man. 



It will not disdain to feed upon carrion, a flock of thirty or forty ha^dng been 

 observed by Mr. Gould seated round the carcass of an ox, and gorged with food like so 

 many vultures. Like the vultures, it will follow the wliite kangaroo hunters day 



