THE BALD-HEADED AMERICAN EAGLE. 11 



that ill the time of his grandfather, uho had served 

 under Washington, a cliikl of two years old had 

 bean sei2;ed by an eagle in the State of Connecticut, 

 and only owed his safety to the great difficulty wdiich 

 these birds experience in flying off from the level 

 ground. The father of the babe was thus enabled 

 to hill the marauder, by striking him with a cudgel. 

 '• Silence," cried I, " eagles can both hear and see 

 from afar." 



" Don't be afraid," replied our companion : " I'm 

 on the look out, and when the eagles are in sight 

 I'll not whisper a word." 



Our loquacious friend was going on, to the intense 

 disgust of myself and the other, when suddenly a 

 sharp whistle was heard from the cornice of a rock 

 not far from the spot where we lay hid. I put ni}' 

 hand over the Yankee's mouth, and looking upwards, 

 discerned on the very brink of the precipice, sur- 

 rounded by a number of twigs, two eaglets, wliose 

 flapping wings and piercing cries announced the 

 approach of one of the parents, and then presently 

 we could see a black spot in the sky, which came 

 closer and closer until the shape became plain and 

 Xierceptible against the blue sky. In a few moments 

 the eagle perched lightl}^ upon a rock close to the 

 eaglets. He held in his claws a morsel of flesh, 

 which he offered to his young, who were already 

 well fledged and very bold. At that moment, when 

 I put my head out to get a good view, the female 



