time, sees a large bird of prey floating high over 

 bold and rifted cliffs, the peaks of which shoot up 

 to some thousand or fifteen hundred feet in height, 

 as is not ^infrequently the case on those shores of 

 Europe which the white-headed eagle has been said 

 to frequent, ean form no very accurate estimate of its 

 size. In all such cases, whatever is seen on or over 

 the top of the cliffs by a spectator below, " borrows of 

 the cliff," and is larger to the fancy than it would be 

 in fact if we had it on the level ground, and could 

 measure it with a line. 



EAGLE. 361 



he inhabits ; but prefers such places as have been 

 mentioned above, from the great partiality he has for 



White-headed Eagle. 



As this bird is certainly much more characteristic 

 of North America than of any other part of the world, 

 and, a it is there a bird of the greatest interest, we 

 should be doing it injustice if we attempted to describe 

 it in any other language than that of Wilson : " This 

 distinguished bird," says this equally distinguished 

 naturalist, " as he is the most beautiful of his tribe in 

 this part of the world, and the adopted emblem of our 

 country, is entitled to particular notice. The cele- 

 brated cataract of Niagara is a noted place of resort 

 for the bald eagle, as well on account of the fish pro- 

 cured there, as for the numerous carcases of squirrels, 

 deer, hears, and various other animals that, in their 

 attempts to cross the river above the Falls, have been 

 dragged into the current, and precipitated down that 

 tremendous gulf, where, among the rocks that bound 

 the rapids below, they furnish a rich repast for the 

 vulture, the raven, and the bald eagle, the subject of 

 the prc'seut account. Formed by nature for braving 

 llii 1 severest cold ; feeding equally on the produce of 

 the sea, and of the land ; possessing powers of flight 

 capable of outstripping even the tempests themselves; 

 nnawed by any thing but man ; and, from the ethereal 

 heights to which it soars, looking abroad at one glance, 

 on an immeasurable expanse of forests, fields, lakes, 

 and ocean, deep below him, he appears indifferent to 

 the little localities of change of seasons ; as in a few 

 minutes he can pass from summer to winter, from the 

 lower to the higher regions of the atmosphere, the 

 abode of eternal cold, and from thence descend, at 

 will, to the torrid or the arctic regions of the earth. 

 He is, therefore, found at all seasons in the countries 



fish. 



" In procuring these, he displays in a very singular 

 manner the genius and energy of his character, whicn 

 is fierce, contemplative, daring, and tyrannical ; attri- 

 butes not. exerted but on particular occasions, but, 

 when put forth, overpowering all opposition. Elevated 

 on the 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 win- 

 nowing the air ; the busy tringa? coursing along the 

 sands ; trains of ducks streaming over the surface ; 

 silent and watchful cranes, intent and wading ; clamo- 

 rous 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.lv 

 arrests his whole attention. By his wide curvature 

 of wing, and sudden suspension in air, he 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 attention, 

 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 emerge, struggling with his prey, and 

 mounting in the air with screams of exultation. This 

 is the signal for our hero, who, launching in the air, 

 instantly gives chase, and soon gains on the fish hawk ; 

 each exerts his utmost to mount above the other, 

 displaying in these rencontres the most elegant and 

 sublime aerial evolutions. The unencumbered 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 whirlwind, 

 snatches it in his grasp are it reaches the water, and 

 bears his ill-gotten booty silently away to the woods. 



" These predatory attacks and defensive manoeuvres 

 of the eagle and the fish hawk, are matters of daily 

 observation along the whole of our sea board, from 

 Georgia to New England, and frequently excite great 

 interest in the spectators. Sympathy, however, on this, 

 as on most other occasions, generally sides with the 

 honest and laborious sufferer, in opposition to the 

 attacks of power, injustice, and rapacity, qualities for 

 which our hero is so generally notorious, and which, 

 in his superior, man, are certainly detestable. As for 

 the feelings of the poor fish, they seem altogether out 

 of the question. 



" When driven, as he sometimes is, by the com- 

 bined courage and perseverance of the fish hawks 

 from their neighbourhood, and forced to hunt for him- 

 self, he retires more inland, in search of young pigs, 

 of which he destroys great numbers. In the lower 

 parts of Virginia and North Carolina, where the in- 

 habitants raise vast herds of those animals, complaints 

 of this kind are very general against him. He also 

 destroys young lambs in the early part of spring ; and 

 will sometimes attack old sickly sheep, aiming furiously 

 at their eyes. 



"In corroboration of the remarks I have myself 

 made on the manners of the bald eagle, many accounts 



