64 THE WHITE-HEADED EAGLE. 



The ingenious structure of the Magpie is frequently met 

 with in the American woods ; a large and elaborate edifice, 

 formed outwardly of sharp thorny sticks, briers, and 

 brambles, interwoven very strongly and artistically, and 

 built up into a kind of dome. The entrance is at the side. 

 Internally, the nest is first lined with a coat of earth, to 

 keep it smooth and air-tight, and then with a layer of 

 dried grass and fine fibrous roots. The whole is generally 

 erected in a thick tree, and surrounded by a kind of 

 irregular chevaux defrise^ to protect it from its enemies. 



But we have still to notice a nobler bird, which has sug- 

 gested to the American Republic its national symbol. The 

 great Bald or White-headed Eagle inhabits the regions of 

 the almost interminable forests, the mighty rivers, and the 

 ample lakes. Larger than the white-tailed eagle of Europe 

 in size, and exceeding it in sweep of wing, its habits are 

 the same. It feeds eagerly upon fish and carrion, and may 

 frequently be seen in the neighbourhood of the Falls of 

 Niagara, watching, in company with the raven and the 

 vulture, for the carcasses of animals brought down the tre- 

 mendous steep of the great cataract. It builds its nest of 

 tufts of grass and dry twigs and sticks, sometimes among 

 the branches of tall trees, and sometimes on the ledges and 

 crags of the rocks and cliffs. Hither it returns, season 

 after season, enlarging it every year, so that in course of 

 time it assumes considerable dimensions. The female lays 

 a couple of eggs, of a bluish white colour. 



The Osprey, or Fish Hawk, abounds in the same locali- 

 ties, and is often doomed to surrender its prey to its more 



