Res] AND SYMBOLS. 303 



An Undeserved Reputation. 



Many reputations are undeserved altogether. Let us not in 

 this connection trouble now about statesmen, poets, or authors, 

 but take from natural history a familiar illustration, that of the 

 eagle. The great strength of the eagle enables it to prey upon 

 creatures whose size would prevent them from being attacked, 

 or at all events being carried off by any of the smaller Falconidse. 

 The eagle is in fact the great tyrant of the wild regions which 

 he inhabits, but as we must bear in mind that nothing that he 

 can meet with there has any power of defending itself from his 

 terrible swoop, we must not allow ourselves, as our forefathers 

 did, to magnify him into a type of magnanimity and courage. 

 This view is induced by the magnificent aspect of the bird, 

 and the abundant evidences of terrible energy furnished by his 

 every movement. But in true courage he is not superior to 

 most of the smaller hawks, and certainly inferior to the pere- 

 grine and many other falcons, which will even venture to 

 attack and drive away this so-called monarch of the waste when 

 he approaches too near their nests. So that really when we 

 remember what a fame the eagle has always had for magna- 

 nimity and for courage, it is obvious, in view of the facts, that 

 he, like many other birds and men, has obtained a reputation 

 which is undeserved. IL. 



Resemblances may Mislead. 



We know that the roar of the lion is considered the most 

 terrible of cries, which inspires all the animals, and even man, 

 with unconquerable dread. But a curious fact, remarked by 

 Livingstone, is the singular resemblance of the lion's roar to the 

 cry of the ostrich. The great African traveller says that he 

 carefully inquired the opinion of Europeans who had heard 

 both. He had asked them if they could discover the least 

 difference between the roar of the one and the cry of the other. 

 They all informed him that they could not perceive any, at 

 whatever distance the animal might be placed. The voice of 

 the lion, generally, is deeper than the ostrich's ; but Living- 

 stone was only able to distinguish it with certainty be- 



