BALD EAGLE. 23 



cliffs, as the only secure situation that probably offers, in the 

 United States he usually selects, near the sea-coast, some lofty 

 pine or cypress tree for his eyry ; this is built of large sticks, 

 several feet in length, forming a floor, within and over which 

 are laid sods of earth, hay, moss, dry reeds, sedge-grass, pine- 

 tops, and other coarse materials, piled after several incubations 

 to the height of 5 or 6 feet, and 4 or 5 feet in breadth. On 

 this almost level bed the female early in February deposits two 

 dull white eggs, one of which is said sometimes to be laid after 

 an interval so considerable that the young are hatched at dif- 

 ferent periods. Lawson, however, says that they breed so 

 often as to commence laying again under their callow young, 

 whose warmth assists the hatching of the eggs. This eyry or 

 breeding-place continues to be perpetually occupied and re- 

 paired as long as the tree endures, — indeed their attachment 

 to particular places is so strong that after their habitation has 

 been demolished, by the destruction of the tree that supported 

 it, they have very contentedly taken possession of an adjoin- 

 ing one. Nor is the period of incubation the only time spent 

 in the nest by this species ; it is a shelter and common habi- 

 tation at all times and seasons, being a home like the hut to 

 the savage, or the cottage to the peasant. 



The helpless young, as might be supposed, are fed with 

 great attention, and supplied with such a superfluity of fish 

 and other matters that they often lie scattered around the 

 tree, producing the most putrid and noisome effluvia. The 

 young are at first clothed with a whitish down ; they gradually 

 become gray, and continue of a brownish gray until the third 

 year, when the characteristic white of the head and tail be- 

 comes perfectly developed. As their food is abundant, the 

 young are not forcibly driven from the nest, but fed for some 

 time after they have left it. They are by no means shy or 

 timorous, will often permit a near approach, and sometimes 

 even bristle up their feathers in an attitude of daring de- 

 fence. Their cry is sonorous and lamentable, like that of the 

 Great Eagle, and when asleep they are said to make a very 

 audible snoring sound. 



