THE EAGLE. 1*7 



THE EAGLJE. 



This tribe of birds are not less rapacious than those 

 of the vulture kind. The Eagles may readily be dis- 

 tinguished from the vultures by having their heads and 

 necks fully clothed with feathers, while these parts of 

 the vulture kind are naked. The claws and bills of 

 the Eagles are sharper and more hooked than those of 

 the vultures. The Eagles also differ from the vultures 

 in their habit of killing their prey for themselves, while 

 the vultures generally eat only such as they find al- 

 ready dead. 



Eagles never associate in flocks, and are so solitary 

 in their habits, that more than two of them are rarely 

 seen together. They are extremely quick-sighted, and 

 can see objects at an amazing distance. They often 

 fly at such a height in the air, as to be entirely out of 

 the sight of man ; and even from such a distance, they 

 can discern their prey on the earth, when they dart 

 down upon it with the swiftness of an arrow. Their 

 strength is so great, that they have been known to 

 carry away animals nearly as heavy as themselves, to 

 the distance of forty miles. Most of them build their 

 nests in the highest and most difficult places in the 

 mountains. The females of this tribe are always lar- 

 ger and stronger than the males. There are many 

 species of this bird, but their habits and manners are 

 similar, the chief difference being in their size and 

 colour. 



