264 WILD SCENES AND SONG-B1EDS. 



two Birds, is one of the sublimest to be witnessed in the ac- 

 tion of the natural world, and though you may regret the 

 fierce greediness of the audacious Cloud-King, and be very- 

 far from defending the morality of the proceeding, yet you 

 cannot restrain an admiration of the manner. You may re- 

 gret that poor Fish-Hawks have to be robbed, and rejoice 

 with a hearty sympathy when you see them combine as they 

 sometimes do for the purpose of castigating their oppressor, 

 yet you cannot help feeling that since the Eagles are incor- 

 rigible and beyond the reach of your exhortations to reform, 

 it is far better and finer to have them do what is inevitable 

 from their natures grandly, than to do it ignobly. 



So with regard to the spirit of " acquisition," or " exten- 

 sion," as it is politely termed we regret that it should be so 

 strongly displayed in the national character, but see no use, 

 so long as there is any more territory left in the Hemisphere 

 to tempt this acquisitiveness, in putting up a poor mouth 

 about it. The fact is, we cannot expect to tame the Eagle 

 to feed on milksops, or meekly and musically " roar like 

 any sucking dove !" The war-cry is its natural note, and 

 while there be storms to gather up the sky we may expect 

 to hear it shouted from amidst the rack thereof! It is a 

 Warrior-Bird fit emblem, with all its rapacity, of a warlike 

 people, and of a vigorous freedom that should have 



" An Eagle's wings for scope and speediness." 



Franklin repeats the stale slander concerning it, of coward- 

 ice because a comparatively small creature, like the King- 

 Bird or Bee-Martin, can drive it off ! As to that, the Hum- 

 ming-Bird is far more dreaded by it, and we have seen the 

 waspish little wretch dart in between the wings of a flying 

 Eagle, fasten upon the top of its head, and work away with 

 long sharp bill and claws until the floating feathers streamed 

 after the flight of the great Bird, which would seem from its 

 darting, irregular movements, to be almost maddened by the 



