BIRDS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 263 



brown eagle, as the bald eagle, in his immature state, is 

 often called. It was not till two years after he first saw it, 

 that Audubon was able to obtain a specimen, when he found 

 that his conjectures were correct, and that it was neither the 

 brown or sea eagle, as Wilson calls the young of the white- 

 headed, not knowing that it was an immature bird ; nor was 

 it the true sea eagle, Falco albicilla. which it more resembles. 

 From the latter it is distinguished by its greater size, and by 

 the greater length of the tail, which in F. albicilla does not 

 extend beyond the folded wings. 



The favorite residence of this bird is in the rocky solitudes 

 near the great lakes, where it is seen flying in broad circles 

 near the land or the surface of the water : when about to dive, 

 it descends in spiral rounds, keeping its eye upon the fish, and 

 comes very near it before it makes its plunge ; when rising, it flies 

 low, to a considerable distance, and then devours its victim at 

 leisure. When the severity of winter closes the water and 

 abridges its means of subsistence, it sometimes wanders into 

 New England, and in January and February, the coldest 

 months in our year, it is occasionally seen within our bounds, 



The Whiteheaded or Bald Eagle, Falco leucocephalus^ is 

 the most familiarly known of all the eagles. Against the re- 

 monstrances of Franklin, it was adopted as the emblem of our 

 country, an honor to which it was entitled, if not by its char- 

 acter, at least by residence, since it is found in every part of 

 the Union, leaving the colder latitudes to the sterner and har- 

 dier of the race. It manifests a preference for the warmer 

 parts of the country, but all who live near our lakes and larger 

 rivers or the shores of the sea, are acquainted with its tower- 

 ing flight and its solemn cry, Avhich, impressive as it is, in the 

 midst of desolation, is nevertheless, like that of all other eagles, 

 so harsh and discordant as to leave without excuse the excise 

 officers of Bristol, in England, who detained a couple which 

 Colonel Montague had imported, under the act which imposed 

 a duty on singing birds. 



The manner in which this eagle subsists, though not credit- 



