THE EAGLE. Ill 



with a bird in his hand, to entice an Eagle within reach. At 

 other times a deer is killed, and a covert made near it, where 

 equal patience is displayed, till a successful shot secures the 

 prize ; and a prize indeed he is to these Indians, who hold 

 him in such veneration, from the qualities they esteem above 

 all others amongst their own renowned warriors and chieftains, 

 namely, unwearied perseverance, activity, watchfulness, un- 

 daunted courage, and, lastly, patience in suffering privations. 

 There is something, too, in his appearance, which strikes the 

 untutored minds of these savages as denoting superiority over 

 all other birds ; his look and movements so dignified, and his 

 rapid and downward flight attended with a sound which is 

 heard at a considerable distance, and is a signal to all other 

 birds to disappear from his presence ; or when floating mag- 

 nificently above on his motionless expanded wings, they listen 

 to the rattling of his pinions as he now and then shakes his 

 quills with a noise which has been compared, by those who 

 have heard it, to the fluttering or rustling of a silken flag in 

 a gale of wind : accordingly, to his very feathers they attach 

 a respect amounting almost to religious veneration. 



There is an instrument called the Calumet, or pipe of peace, 

 which is used in their most solemn meetings, when they hold 

 councils respecting peace or war; and when offered and 

 accepted by contending parties, has the effect of the most 

 solemn treaties and oaths of Christian people. This instru- 

 ment is, in a part of America called Louisiana, orna- 

 mented with the feathers of a particularly beautiful and rare 

 species of White Eagle, called the Conciliating Eagle.* In 

 another part of America, called California, and indeed amongst 

 many other tribes of that vast continent, the Indians, when 

 in their full dress, wear an Eagle's feather fastened to the top 

 of their heads as a mark of nobility ; and singularly enough a 

 similar custom prevailed, and, on occasions of ceremony still 

 prevails, amongst the Highland chiefs of Scotland, handed 

 down from time immemorial : the plume of the Erne, or 

 great Sea Eagle,f being the distinguishing mark of the head 



* Falco conciliator. t Falco albicilla. 



