62 THE PESTS OF THE FAKM. ^ 



scend, at will, to the torrid, or the arctic regions of the earth. He 

 is, therefore, found, at all seasons, in the countries he inhabits ; but 

 prefers such places as have been mentioned above, from the great 

 partiality he has for fish. 



In procuring these, he displays, in a very singular manner, the 



fenius and energy of his character, which is fierce, contemplative, 

 aring, and tyrannical, attributes not exerted but on particular 

 occasions, but, when put forth, overpowering all opposition. 



When driven, as he sometimes is, by the combined courage and 

 perseverance of the fish hawks, from their neighborhood, and forced 

 to hunt for himself, he retires more inland, in search of young pigs, 

 of which he destroys great numbers. In the lower parts of Vir- 

 ginia and North Carolina, where the inhabitants 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 foriously at 

 their eyes. 



His intrepidity of character may be illustrated by the following 

 fact, which occurred a few years ago, near Great Egg Harbor, New 

 Jersey : A woman, who happened to be weeding in the garden, 

 had set her child down near, to amuse itself while she was at work ; 

 when a sudden and extraordinary rushing sound, and a scream 

 from her child, alarmed her, and, starting up, she beheld the infant 

 thrown down, and dragged some few feet, and a large bald eaglo 

 bearing off a fragment of its frock, which being the only part 

 seized, and giving way, providentially saved the life of the infant. 



The appetite of the bald eagle, though habituated to long fast- 

 ing, is of the most voracious, and often the most indelicate kind. 

 Fish, when he can obtain them, are preferred to all other fare. 

 Young lambs and pigs ai-e dainty morsels, and made free with on 

 all favorable occasions. Ducks, geese, gulls, and other sea fowl, 

 are also seized with avidity. 



The white-headed eagle is three feet long, and seven feet in ex- 

 tent ; the bill is of a rich yellow ; cere, the same, slightly tinged 

 with green ; mouth, flesh-colored ; tip of the tongue, bluish black ; 

 the head, chief part of the neck, vent, tail-coverts, and tail, are 

 white in the perfect, or old birds of both sexes, in those 

 under three years of age these parts are of a gray brown ; the 

 rest of the plumage is dark brown, each feather tipped with pale 

 brown, lightest on the shoulder of the wing, and darkest towards 

 its extremities. The conformation of the wing is admirably adapted 



