222 THE REASON WHY '. 



" We think tlie raule-icinged pride 



Of sky-aspiring and ambitious thoughts, 

 With rival-hating envy, set you on 

 To wake our peace." - SHAKSPEKE. 



the whole of his body, and with a few touches of his bill, aided by the action of his 

 cuticular muscles, arranges his plumage in an instant. The snow-white bird is now in 

 sigut, her long neck is stretched forward ; her eye is on the watch, vigilant as that 

 of her enemy ; her large wings seem with difficulty to support the weight of 1m 

 body, although they flap incessantly. So irksome do her exertions seem, that her 

 very legs are spread beneath her tail to aid her in her flight. She approaches, 

 however. The eagle has marked her for his prey. As the swan is passing the 

 dreaded pair, the male bird starts from his perch, in full preparation for the chase, 

 with an awful scream, that to the swan's ear brings more terror than the report of 

 a large duck-gun. 



" Now is the moment to witness the display of the eagle's powers. He glides 

 through the air like a falling star, and, like a flash of lightning, comes upon the 

 timorous quarry, which now, in agony and despair, seeks, by various manoeuvres, 

 to elude the grasp of his cruel talons. It mounts, doubles, and would willingly 

 plunge into toe stream, were it not prevented by the eagle, which, long possessed 

 of the knowledge that by such a stratagem the swan might escape him, forces it to 

 remain in the air by striking it with his talons from beneath. The hope of escape 

 is soon given up by the swan. It has already become much weakened, and its 

 strength fails at the sight of the courage and" swiftness of its antagonist. Its last 

 gasp is about to escape, when the ferocious eagle strikes with his talons the under- 

 side of its wing, and with irresistible power forces the bird to fall in a slanting 

 direction upon the nearest shore. 



" It is then that the cruel spirit of this dreaded enemy of the feathered race may 

 be seen ; whilst exulting over his prey, he for the first time breathes with ease. He 

 presses down his powerful feet, and drives his sharp claws deeper than ever into 

 the heart of the dying swan. He shrieks with delight as he feels the last 

 convulsions of his prey, which has now sunk under his unceasing efforts to render 

 death as painfully felt as it can possibly be. The female has watched every 

 movement of her mate ; and if she did not assist him in capturing the swan, it was 

 not from want of will, but merely that she felt full assurance that the power 

 and courage of her lord were quite sufficient for the deed. She now sails to the 

 spot where he eagerly waits her, and, when she has arrived, they together turn the 

 breast of the luckless swan upwards, and fill themselves with gore " 



665. Why are an eagle and a fish sometimes found dead, and 

 tightly fastened together on the sea-shore ? 



Because the bird on these occasions has struck its talons with such 

 force into its prey that it cannot extricate them ; and the weight of 

 the fish proving too heavy, the eagle is dragged down under the 

 waves of the sea, and thus drowned. 



