FALCO. 



den suspension in air, he knows him to 

 be the fish- hawk settling over some de- 

 voted victim of the deep. His eye kin- 

 dles at the sight, and balancing himself, 

 with half opened wings on the branch, he 

 watches the result. 



" Down, rapid as an arrow from heaven, 

 descends the distant object of his atten- 

 tion, the roar of its wings reaching the 

 ear as it disappears in the deep, making 

 the surges foam around ! At this moment 

 the eager looks of the eagle are all ar- 

 dour; and levelling his neck for flight, 

 he sees the fish-hawk once more emerge, 

 struggling with his prey, and mounting 

 in the air with screams of exultation. 

 These are the signal for our hero, who, 

 launching into the air, instantly gives 

 chase, soon gains on the fish-hawk, each 

 exerts his utmost to mount above the 

 other, displaying in these rencontres 

 the most elegant and sublime aeriel evo- 

 lutions. The unincumbered eagle rapid- 

 ly advances, and is just on the point of 

 reaching his opponent, when with a sud- 

 den scream, probably of despair and ho- 

 nest execration, the latter drops his fish ; 

 the eagle, poising himself for a moment 

 as if to take a more certain aim, descends 

 like a whirlwind, snatches it in his grasp 

 ere it reaches the water, and bears his 

 ill-gotten booty silently away to the 

 woods." 



This eagle is adopted as the emblem of 

 our country. 



F. ossifragus, or sea-eagle, frequents 

 the sea-shore, and subsists principally 

 upon fish ; it is nearly of the size of the 

 golden eagle, and is found in many coun- 

 tries both of Europe and America ; and 

 is supposed by many persons, and with 

 good reason, to be only the young of the 

 bald eagle ; its sight is stated to be equal- 

 ly clear by night and by day. Mr. Barlow 

 relates, that he saw a bird of this species 

 engaged once in a violent conflict in the 

 air, with a cat which he had lifted in his 

 talons, whose efforts, however, were fin- 

 ally too powerful for him, and brought 

 him again to the ground. 



F. haliaetus, osprey or fish-hawk, is to 

 be found in almost all parts of Europe 

 and America, on the borders of the 

 ocean, which it frequents for the sake of 

 the fish contained in it, which constitute 

 its principal subsistence, and on which it 

 darts with considerable accuracy; it builds 

 a lurge nest on trees, and is the most nu- 

 merous of the larger birds of prey. See 

 Aves, Plate VII. fig. 3. 



F. buteo, or buzzard of Europe. The 

 buzzard is abundantly provided with 



means of defence, as well as attack : but 

 is sluggish and cowardly with all its 

 strength, and will suffer itself to be 

 brought to the ground by a sparrow- 

 hawk, without at all employing those 

 means, which, if fully exerted, would 

 uniformly and inevitably prove fatal to 

 the assailant. The length of the com- 

 mon buzzard is about 20 inches : scarce- 

 ly any two of the species are marked 

 alike ; its food consists of birds, vermin, 

 reptiles, and insects. If the female bird 

 be destroyed by violence or disease dur- 

 ing incubation, the male will, it is said, 

 succeed to the charge, and perfectly ac- 

 complish it. 



F. milvus, or the kite, is about two 

 feet long, and distinguished from the 

 buzzard by a forked tail. In England it 

 continues during the whole year : in va- 

 rious parts of Europe it is migratory, and, 

 as winter approaches, takes its flight to 

 Egypt. It preys chiefly upon small birds, 

 and, from a distance in the air at which 

 it is invisible to the sight of man, will 

 pounce on them with incredible rapidity 

 and fatal precision. It frequently makes 

 attempts and depredation on broods of 

 young chickens, and furnishes hereby to 

 the observer an interesting spectacle of 

 maternal affection and courage in the 

 hen : from these conflicts the kite gene- 

 rally retires worsted, and obliged to await 

 the opportunity, when he may elude the 

 almost incessant vigilance of the dam, or 

 pick up an unfortunate straggler beyond 

 the reach of her superintendance. 



F. palumbarius, or the goshawk, is 

 about twenty inches in length ; it feeds 

 on mice and small birds, which last it 

 plucks, before it devours them, with 

 great dexterity and neatness ; it tears 

 these and other animals to pieces before 

 eating them, then swallows these pieces 

 whole, and, like its congeners, throws up 

 from its stomach the hair or remaining 

 feathers which belonged to them, in the 

 form of small pellets. This bird was for- 

 merly in high estimation in England, 

 when the diversion of falconry prevailed, 

 and was trained by very careful discipline 

 to the most accurate obedience of its 

 keeper, and to the most vigorous and fa- 

 tal pursuit of numerous animals, which, 

 in a state of nature, it left unmolested : 

 even geese and cranes, and also rabbits, 

 it was taught to consider as its prey, and 

 by the judicious application of rewards 

 and punishments, its natural powers at- 

 tained an improvement, which previously 

 would scarcely have been deemed possi- 

 ble, from any efforts for this purpose. 



