THE EAGLE. 137 



sound which is heard at a considerable distance, and 

 is a signal to all other birds to disappear from his 

 presence; or, when floating magnificently above, on 

 his motionless expanded wings, they listen to the 

 rattling of his pinions as he now and then shakes his 

 quills with a noise which has been compared, by 

 those who have heard it, to the fluttering or rustling 

 of a silken flag in a gale of wind ; accordingly, to his 

 very feathers they attach a respect amounting almost 

 to religious veneration. 



There is an instrument, called the Calumet, or pipe 

 of peace, which is used in their most solemn meet- 

 ings, when they hold councils respecting peace or 

 war; and when offered and accepted by contending 

 parties has the effect of the most solemn treaties 

 and oaths of Christian people. This instrument is, 

 in a part of America called Louisiana, ornamented 

 with the feathers of a particularly beautiful and rare 

 species of White Eagle, called the Conciliating Eagle*. 

 In another part of America, called California, and 

 indeed amongst many other tribes of that vast con- 

 tinent, the Indians, when in their full dress, wear an 

 Eagle's feather fastened to the top of their heads 

 as a mark of nobility ; and, singularly enough, a 

 similar custom prevailed, and on occasions of cere- 

 mony still prevails, amongst the Highland chiefs of 

 Scotland, handed down from time immemorial. 

 The plume of the Erne, or great Sea Eaglet, being 

 the distinguishing mark of the head of a clan, and 

 even of the kings of Scotland. Many of our readers 

 will doubtless remember the beautiful passage of 

 Sir Walter Scott, in the Lady of the Lake^ when 



Falco conciliator. -f Falco albicilla. 



