EAGLES. 



3*5 



ties, and fix them so firmly to the plat- 

 form, that rains or storms seldom cause 

 their destruction. While the female is 

 detained in the eirie by the incubation 

 of her eggs, the male hunts alone, and 

 as it is at the season when game begins 

 to abound, he easily provides for his 





FIG. 340. FOOT OF EAGLE. 



FIG. 339. BEAK OF FALCOX. 



own subsistence as well 

 as for that of his com- 

 panion. Eagles live on 

 wild mountains, and 

 ordinarily build their 

 nests on the highest 

 and most precipitous 

 rocks. The duration 

 of incubation is about 

 thirty days. 

 The Golden Eagle 

 (Aquila chrysaetas) is 

 one of the noblest of 

 the feathered inhabi- 

 tants of the British 



Isles. He is of large size, his countenance and aspect are grand, and his 

 movement majestic. Whether viewed as he sits in awful solitude on the edge 

 of some lofty crag, or sailing on broadly-expanded pinions above the clouds, 

 he seems to feel himself the monarch of the scene around. 



The Fisher Eagles (Halietus] keep near the margin of the sea and live 

 principally upon fish. 



The Great Harpy Of America (Fako harpyia] is superior in size to the com- 

 mon eagle. Of all birds, this possesses the most terrific beak a^id claws. Such is its 

 strength, that it is said to have cleft a man's skull with its beak. Its ordinary food is 

 the sloth, and it often carries off fawns. 



The Falcons (Falco} are remarkable on account of their projecting eye- 

 brows, which make the eyes appear as if deeply sunk in the head, and give to 

 the physiognomy an appearance altogether different from that of the vultures. 

 They have a lofty, rapid, sustained flight ; their sense of sight is more ex- 

 tended and clearer than that of any other animal, enabling them to perceive 

 the smallest prey when they themselves are out of sight. Most of them feed 

 on the flesh of victims newly killed by their own talons, but when pressed by 

 hunger they do not refuse dead animals. Instead of eating food on the spot 

 as vultures do, they bear it off to their eirie. The largest species attack quad- 



