WHAT BECAME OF THE EAGLETS. 29 



female, and measured twelve feet between the tips of 

 her wings. 



Three days later I placed myself in ambush near the 

 empty eyrie, waiting for the male, who, however, did not 

 make his appearance. Either he had somewhere met 

 with his death, or else, with the natural cunning of his 

 race, had seen the spectacle of his mate's murder and the 

 capture of his young ones, and had prudently kept at a 

 distance. 



I carried the two eaglets to Staten Island, where one of 

 them, in spite of every care, died a few weeks afterwards. 

 As for the other, he had grown fat and lazy in 1849, 

 when I quitted the United States, and strutted com- 

 placently to and fro on the terrace to which he was 

 confined. There, as a prudent precaution, he was at- 

 tached by a long chain to the trunk of the tree which, at 

 night, served him for a resting-place. 



