OF NEW ENGLAND. 369 



might well take one's breath away. In his fall he disappeared 

 behind some woods, and I did not see him again. The keen- 

 ness of vision which this species must possess is wonderful, 

 but at how great a height they can distinctly perceive their 

 prey is uncertain. I have seen one sail at some distance above 

 the peak of Mount Lafayette, at least a mile above the sea- 

 level, and, on crossing a valley beneath, suddenly descend, as 

 if his attention had been attracted by an object four thousand 

 feet beneath. Could man from the top of a monument twenty 

 times as high as that of Bunker Hill distinctly see a cat di- 

 rectly beneath, or a fawn at the distance of two or three miles, 

 even if not running through grass or woods ? Yet man might 

 distinctly see and recognize a tolerably small quadruped at the 

 distance of a mile in a clear, level space, whence it seems 

 possible that the powers of horizontal and perpendicular vision 

 are somewhat distinct, even when the same surface of a body 

 is seen. Audubon says^ of these birds that " } 7 oung fawns, 

 racoons, hares, wild turkeys, and other large birds, are their 

 usual food, and they devour putrid flesh only when hard pressed 

 by hunger, none alighting on carrion at any other time." 



(rf). The screams of the Golden Eagle are loud, harsh, and 

 rather savage, " resembling at times," says Audubon, " the 

 barking of a dog, especially about the breeding season, when 

 they become extremely noisy and turbulent, * * * ." 



VIII. HALIAKTUS 



(A) LEUCOCEPHALUS. " Bald " Eagle. White-headed Eagle. 

 "Bird of Washington." 



(In some parts of New England not uncommon.) 



(a). 30-40 inches long. Tarsus naked. Dark brown. Head, 

 tail, and tail-coverts, white. Young with little or no white. 



(b). The nest is much like that of the Fish Hawk in every ' 

 respect. It is often, however, "partly composed of sods, and 

 is commonly built in the top of a dead tree." The eggs, most 

 often two in number, are laid in the early part of spring, or 

 even in winter. They are nearly three inches long, or more, 

 and are impure white or yellowish. 

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