768 



EAGLE. 



size is larger than that of the common eagle ; its 

 plumage i< ash coloured on (lit- head anil neck, 

 blackish-brown on the breast and sides, whitish 

 beneath, rayed with brown on the thighs. It lias 

 long plumes, which form a black tuft on the back of 

 the head, and can be raised, giving it somewhat the 

 physiognomy of an owl. This bird is said to be so 

 powerful as to liave destroyed men by a blow of its 

 beak. Its usual food is the sloth, though it some- 

 times carries oft' fawns. There can be no doubt but 

 that Iliis species is the yzquautzli of Hernandes, 

 though this author is guilty of great exaggeration 

 when he says it is as large as a sheep. 



6. Bald eagle (F. leucocepAalus). The bald 

 eagle is the most distinguished of the Nortli Ameri- 

 can species, not only from his beauty, but also as the 

 adopted emblem of that country. This bird has 

 In-, ii known to naturalists for a long time, and is 

 common to both continents, chiefly frequenting the 

 neighlxnirhood of the sea, and the shores and cliff's 

 of lakes and large rivers. He is found during the 

 whole year in the countries he inhabits, preferring 

 the spots we have mentioned from his great partiality 

 for fish. The following poetic description of one of 

 his modes of obtaining his prey is given by Alexander 

 Wilson : " Elevated upon a high, dead limb of some 

 gigantic tree, that commands a wide view of the 

 neighbouring shore and ocean, he seems calmly to 

 contemplate the motions of the various feathered 

 tribes that pursue their busy avocations below the 

 snow-white gulls, slowly winnowing the air; the 

 busy tringee, coursing along the sands ; trains of 

 ducks, streaming over the surface ; silent and watch- 

 ful cranes, intent and wading ; clamorous crows, 

 and all the winged multitudes that subsist by the 

 bounty of this vast liquid magazine of nature. 

 High over all these hovers one, whose action instant- 

 ly arrests all his attention. lie knows him to be 

 the fish-hawk, settling over some devoted victim of 

 the deep. His eye kindles at the sight, and, balanc- 

 ing himself with half-opened wings on the branch, 

 he watches the result. Down, rapid as an arrow 

 from heaven, descends the distant object of his at- 

 tention, the roar of its wings reaching the ear as it 

 disappears in the deep, making the surges foam 

 around. At this moment, the eager looks of the 

 eagle are all ardour, and, levelling his neck for 

 flight, he sees the fish-hawk once more emerging, 

 struggling with his prey, and mounting in the air 

 with screams of exultation. These are a signal 

 for our hero, who, launching into the air, instantly 

 gives chase ; soon gains on the fish-hawk ; each 

 exerts his utmost to mount above the other, display- 

 ing, in the rencounter, the most elegant and sublime 

 aerial evolutions. The unincumbered eagle rapidly 

 advances, and is just on the point of reaching his 

 opponent, when, with a sudden scream, probably of 

 despair and honest execration, the latter drops his 

 fish ; the eagle, poising himself for a moment, as if 

 to take a more certain aim, descends like a whirl- 

 wind, snatches it in its grasp, ere it reaches the 

 water, and bears it silently away to the woods." 

 The bald eagle also destroys quadrupeds, as lambs, 

 pigs,&c. ; and there are well authenticated instances 

 of its attempting to carry off children. When this 

 bird has fasted for some time, its appetite is ex- 

 tremely voracious and indiscriminate. Even the 

 most putrid carrion, when nothing better can be had, 

 is acceptable. In hard times, when food is very 

 scarce, the eagle will attack the vulture, make it 

 disgorge the food it has swallowed, and seize this 

 disgusting matter before it can reach the ground. 

 The nest of this species is usually found on a lofty 

 tree, in a swamp or morass. It is large, and, being 

 increased and repaired every season, becomes of 



great size. It is formed of large sticks, sods, liny, 

 !iio>.s, &c. Few birds provide more abundantly tor 

 their young than the bald eagle. Fish are da.ly 

 carried to the nest in such numbers, that they some- 

 times lie scattered round the tree, ana the putrid 

 smell of the nest may be distinguished at the dis- 

 tance of several hundred yards. The eagle is said 

 to live to a great age sixty, eighty, or even an 

 hundred years. 



In poetry and the fine arts, the eagle plays a very 

 important part. As king of birds, the eagle was tin- 

 bird of Jove, the carrier of the lightning, and therehy 

 expressive of sole or supreme dominion. In this 

 sense, he is used as the emblem and symbol of na- 

 tions, princes, and armies. He was the hieroglyphic 

 sign of the cities Heliopolis, Emesus, Antioeh, and 

 Tyre. Among the attributes of royalty, which the 

 Tuscans once sent to the Romans, as a token of 

 amity, was a sceptre with an eagle of ivory ; ami 

 from that time the eagle remained one of the princi- 

 pal emblems of the republic, and was retained also 

 by the emperors. As the standard of an army, the 

 eagle was first used by the Persians. Among the 

 Romans, they were at first of wood, then of silver, 

 with thunderbolts of gold, and, under Czrsar and hi* 

 successors, entirely of gold, without thunderbolts. 

 For a long time, they were carried, as the standards 

 of the legions, on u long staff, thus : 



and reverenced as their peculiar deities. Napo- 

 leon chose the Roman eagle as his banner. It was 

 of metal, gilt, and elevated on a long staff ; but the 

 royal army in France no longer retains this standard. 

 The double-headed eagle was first found among' the 

 emperors of the East, who thereby expressed their 

 claims to the Eastern and Western empires. It was 

 afterwards adopted by the Western emperors. The 

 German emperor Otho IV. had it first on his seal. 

 King Philip afterwards made it the impress on his 

 coins. Austria received this emblem from the inher- 

 itance of the East. The eagle was also adopted by 

 the kings of Prussia, Poland, Sicily, Spain, Sardinia, 

 by the emperors of Russia, by many princes, counts, 

 and barons of the German empire, and by the United 

 States of America. Napoleon's eagle was seated, 

 with his wings folded. The eagle of the United 

 States of America stands with outspread wings, 

 guarding the shield below him, on which are the 

 stripes and stars representing the states of the 

 Union, and the motto E pluribus iinvm. The eagle 

 is also the badge of several orders, as the black 

 eagle and the red eagle of Prussia, the white eagle 

 of Poland, &c. 



EAHEINOMAUWE ; a large island in the South 

 Pacific ocean, and the most northern of the two cou- 



