THE BALD-HEADED AMERICAN EAGLE. 



the sincere Avisli of an old friend -who has not for- 

 gotten him. 



The eagle of the United States, like his Euro- 

 pean congeners, rarely lives alone, and, according 

 to Auduhon the celebrated naturalist (whose un- 

 tiraeh' death was an irreparable loss to science), the 

 mutual attachment of a pair seems to last from 

 their first union to the death of one or other. Eagles 

 hunt together for their food, like pirates in partner- 

 ship, and feed side by side with each other. Their 

 connubial season begins in December, and is indi- 

 cated by a considerable amount of noisiness on each 

 side. You may see them on the flight together, 

 whirling and circling in space, and screaming with 

 their utmost force, plaj'ing, seemingly fighting, with 

 each other, as if in joke, and then resting side by 

 side on the branches of the tree where they have 

 prepared their marriage bed, and w'hich is, perhaps, 

 only their old nest repaired. The female begins to 

 lay about the beginning of January. The nest is 

 made of sticks, a little more than a yard long, tuffets 

 of grass, and pieces of moss and lichens. Its cir- 

 cumference is from five to six feet. The eggs which 

 the female deposits in this rude house are two or 

 three in number, very rarely four, and are of a 

 greenish white, with a granular shell, and of equal 

 dimensions at both ends. The hatching lasts from 

 three to four weeks. When the eaglets are 

 hatched, thev are covered with a reddish down, 



