THE EAGLE. 109 



stantly exposed to the water, its feathers are provided with a 

 greater portion of that oily substance common to many birds, 

 and they shine as if covered with a thin coating of clear gum. 

 An anecdote is related by Dr. Richardson,* who accompanied 

 that enterprising traveller, Sir John Franklin, as current on 

 the plains of Saskatchewan in North America, of a half-bred 

 Indian, who was vaunting his prowess before a band of his 

 countrymen, and wishing to impress them with a belief of his 

 supernatural power. In the midst of his harangue, an Eagle 

 was observed suspended as it were in the air directly over his 

 head; upon which, pointing aloft with his dagger, which 

 glistened brightly in the sun, he called upon the royal bird 

 to come down. To his own amazement, no less than to the 

 consternation of the surrounding Indians, the Eagle seemed 

 to obey the charm, for instantly shooting down with the 

 velocity of an arrow, it impaled itself on the point of his 

 weapon. 



Fierce and savage as these birds usually are, they notwith- 

 standing appear in some instances to lay aside these habits, 

 and manifest a kind and protecting disposition, particularly 

 towards little birds. Thus it has been observed that an 

 African Eagle (Falco halbescens), though it will suffer no 

 bird of any size to come near its haunt, will nevertheless 

 permit small ones not only to reside near it, but even to perch 

 upon its nest without offering them any violence, and still 

 more, will protect them against the attack of other rapacious 

 birds which might be disposed to devour them. The Osprey, 

 or Fishing Eagle of North America (Falco halicetus), allows 

 the Grakle, or New England Jackdaw, as it is termed, to take 

 the same liberty, these birds building their nests among the 

 loose sticks forming the base of the Eagle's nest, apparently 

 neither dreading nor inconvenienced by the bird of prey 

 which rears its young above them.f 



However cunning and sagacious we have seen them to be 

 in their modes of providing for their own wants, and entrap- 

 ping other birds and animals, they are occasionally overreached 



* RICHARDSON'S Fauna Americana. 

 t KING'S Narrative, vol. ii., p. 217. 



