CHAPTER VIIL 



THE FEATHERED TRIBES OF NORTH AMERICA. 



THE BALD OR WHITE-HEADED EAGLE. 



fHE white-headed eagle takes precedence among the 

 feathered tribes of America, — because he stands 

 first in natural order, and has been selected by the 

 })eople of the United States as their heraldic emblem. Their 

 clioice was, by-the-by, objected to by Benjamin Franklin, on 

 the plea '' that it is a bird of l)ad moral character, and does 

 not get his living honestly." There was justice in the re- 

 mark, for the bald eagle is a determined robljer, and a perfect 

 tyrant. He is, however, a magnificent bird, when seen with 

 wings expanded, nearly eight feet from tip to tip — -and a body 

 three and a half feet in length— his snowy white head and 

 neck shining in the sun, and his large, liooked, yellow beak 

 open as he espies, afar otf, the fish-hawk emerging from tlie 

 ocean with his struggling prey. Downward he pounces with 

 rapid flight. The fish-hawk sees his enemy approaching, 

 and attempts to esca})e ; but, laden with the fish he has just 

 captured, in spite of the various evolutions he performs, he 

 is soon overtaken by the savage freebooter. With a scream 



