56 WHITE-HEADED EAGLE. 



" no more eggs are wanted than a sufficiency to produce that 

 " effect. Are the eggs numbered originally, and is there no 

 "increase of number, but a gradual loss, till all are deposited? 

 " If so, the number may correspond to the long life and vigo- 

 " rous health of this noble bird. Why there is but two young 

 " in a season, is easily explained. Nature has been studiously 

 " parsimonious of her physical strength, from whence the tribes 

 " of animals incapable to resist, derive security and confi- 

 " dence." 



The Eagle is said to live to a great age, sixty, eighty, and 

 as some assert, one hundred years. This circumstance is re- 

 markable, when we consider the seeming intemperate habits of 

 the bird. Sometimes fasting through necessity, for several 

 days, and at other times gorging itself with animal food, till its 

 craw swells out the plumage of that part, forming a large pro- 

 tuberance on the breast. This, however, is its natural food, 

 and for these habits its whole organization is particularly adapt- 

 ed. It has not, like men, invented rich wines, ardent spirits, 

 and a thousand artificial poisons, in the form of soups, sauces, 

 and sweetmeats. Its food is simple, it indulges freely, uses 

 great exercise, breathes the purest air, is healthy, vigorous and 

 longlived. The lords of the creation themselves might derive 

 some useful hints from these facts, were they not already, in 

 general, too wise, or too proud, to learn from their inferiors, 

 the fowls of the air, and beasts of the field. 



