368 



E A G L E. 



does in America ; but that does not form any foun- 

 dation tor a specific difference, as many of the ducks 

 and other aquatic birds which build upon trees in 

 America, build in reeds and bushes in Europe. 



THE GIIEAT AMERICAN EAGLE (Falco Washing- 

 tonii of Audobon). We mention this species upon 

 the authority of the naturalist whose name we have 

 mentioned, though, at the same time, we have some 

 doubts whether the one which he describes may not 

 be the sea-eagle in its young plumage, or perhaps the 

 harpy eagle, which belongs more to the central lati- 

 tudes of America, and is one of the short-winged 

 fishing-eaeles. The description given by Audobon 

 certainly is that of a very different bird ; and, in 

 order that we may do justice both to him and to his 

 subject, we shall quote the entire passage. " It was," 

 says Audobon, "in the month of February, 1814, that 

 I obtained the first sight of this noble bird, and never 

 shall 1 forget the delight which it gave me. Not even 

 Herschel, when he discovered the planet which bears 

 his name, could have experienced more rapturous 

 feelings. We were on a trading voyage, ascending 

 the Upper Mississippi. The keen wintry blasts 

 whistled around us, and the cold from which I 

 suffered had, in a great degree, extinguished the deep 

 interest which, at other seasons, this magnificent river 

 has been wont to awake in me. I lay stretched 

 beside our patroon. The safety of our cargo was 

 forgotten, and the only thing that called my attention 

 was the multitude of ducks, of different species, 

 accompanied by vast flocks of swans, which from time 

 to time passed us. My patroon, a Canadian, had been 

 engaged many years in the fur trade. He was a man 

 of much intelligence ; and, perceiving that these 

 birds had engaged my curiosity, seemed anxious to 

 find some new object to divert me. An eagle flew 

 over us. ' How fortunate ! ' he exclaimed ; ' this is 

 what I could have wished. Look, sir! the great 

 eagle, and the only one I have seen since I left the 

 lakes.' I was instantly on my feet, and, having 

 observed it attentively, concluded, as I lost it in the 

 distance, that it was a species quite new to me. My 

 patroon assured me that such birds were indeed rare ; 

 that they sometimes followed the hunters, to feed on 

 the entrails of animals which they had killed, when 

 the lakes were frozen over, but that, when the lakes 

 were open, they would dive in the day-time after fish, 

 and snatch them up in the manner of the fishing-hawk, 

 and that they roosted generally on the shelves of the 

 rocks, where they built their nests, of which he had 

 discovered several by the quantity of white dung 

 scattered below. 



" Convinced that the bird was unknown to natural- 

 ists, I felt particularly anxious to learn its habits, and 

 to discover in what particulars it differed from the 

 rest of its genus. My next meeting with this bird 

 was a few years afterwards, whilst engaged in collect- 

 ing cray-fish on one of those flats which border and 

 divide Green River, in Kentucky, near its junction 

 with the Ohio. The river is there bordered by a 

 range of high cliffs, which, for some distance, follow 

 its windings. I observed on the rocks, which, at 

 that place, are nearly perpendicular, a quantity of 

 white ordure, which I attributed to owls that might 

 have resorted thither. 1 mentioned the circumstance 

 to my companions, when one of them, who lived 

 within a mile of the place, told me it was from the 

 nest of the brown eagle, meaning the white-headed 

 eagle (Falco leucoccphahis), in its immature state. I 



assured him this could not be, and remarked, that 

 neither the old nor the young birds of that species 

 ever build in such places, but always in trees. Al- 

 though he could not answer rny objection, he stoutly 

 maintained that a brown eagle of some kind, above 

 the usual size, had built there ; and added, that he 

 had espied the nest some days before, and had seen 

 one of the old birds dive and catch a fish. This he 

 thought strange, having, till then, always observed 

 that both brown eagles and bald eagles procured this 

 kind of food by robbing the fish-hawks. He said, 

 that, if I felt particularly anxious to know what nest 

 it was, I might soon satisfy myself, as the old birds 

 would come and feed their young with fish, for he 

 had seen them do so before. 



" In high expectation, I seated myself at about a 

 hundred yards from the foot of the rock. Never did 

 time pass more slowly. I could not help betraying 

 the most impatient curiosity, for my hopes whispered 

 it was a sea eagle's nest. Two long hours had elapsed 

 before the old bird made his appearance, which was 

 announced to us by the loud hissings of the two young 

 ones, which crawled to the extremity of the hole to 

 receive a fine fish. I had a perfect view of this noble 

 bird as he held himself to the edging rock, hanging 

 like the barn, bank, or social swallow, his tail spread, 

 and his wings partly so. I trembled lest a word 

 should escape from my companions. The slightest 

 murmur had been treason from them. They entered 

 into my feelings, and, although little interested, gazed 

 with me. In a few minutes the other parent joined 

 the mate, and, from the difference in size (the female of 

 rapacious birds being much larger), we knew this to be 

 the mother bird. She also had brought a fish : but, 

 more cautious than her mate, she glanced her quick 

 and piercing eye around, and instantly perceived that 

 her abode had been discovered. She dropped her 

 prey, with a loud shriek communicated the alarm to 

 the male, and, hovering with him over our heads, kept 

 up a growling cry, to intimidate us from our suspected 

 design. This watchful solicitude I have ever found 

 peculiar to the female, must I be understood to 

 speak only of birds ? 



" The young having concealed themselves, we went 

 and picked up the fish which the mother had let fall. 

 It was a white perch, weighing about five pounds and 

 a half. The upper part of the head was broken in, and 

 the back torn by the talons of the eagle. We had 

 plainly seen her bearing it in the manner of the fish- 

 hawk. 



" This day's sport being at an end, as we journeyed 

 homewards, we agreed to return the next morning, 

 with the view of obtaining both the old and young 

 birds ; but rainy and tempestuous weather setting in, 

 it became necessary to defer the expedition till the 

 third day following, when, with guns and men all in 

 readiness, we reached the rock. Some posted them- 

 selves at the foot, others upon it, but in vain. We 

 passed the entire day, without either seeing or hearing 

 an eagle, the sagacious birds.no doubt, having antici- 

 pated an invasion, and removed their young to new 

 quarters. 



" I come at last to the day which I had so often 

 and so ardently desired. Two years had gone by 

 since the discovery of the nest, in fruitless excursions ; 

 but my wishes were no longer to remain ungratified. 

 In returning from the little village of Henderson, to 

 the house of Dr. Rankin, about a mile distant, I saw 

 an eagle rise from a small enclosure not a hundred 



