EAGLES; l$5 



abounded with all the fertility of genius, and evin- 

 ced uncommon research and indefatigable indus- 

 try. Our modern naturalists, with some distin- 

 guished exceptions, confine their attention almost 

 exclusively to the forma et descriptio ; and natu- 

 ral science in their hands has become a study of 

 hard words, instead of the study of animal, vege- 

 table, and mineral nature. 



In the kw illustrations which I have given of 

 the zoology of this country, I have consulted ac- 

 curacy instead of wandering into the flowery fields 

 of fancy. My stock of information must necessa- 

 rily be very limited so far as it depends on my 

 own observation — and my opportunities for deri- 

 ving information from others have not been many. 

 The hints or intimations which I throw out may 

 serve sometimes as clues to more interesting inves- 

 tigations, and a wider field of natural science was 

 never afforded than that which this country fur- 

 nishes. 



In various places I have seen the falco leuco- 

 cephalus, or bald eagle ; the falco ossifragus, or 

 grey eagle; and the falco halisetus, or ospnw 

 In Turtius Linnaeus the osprey is gob founded with 

 the grey eagle, but this is an error of the editor, 

 not of the immortal author; and Wilson suppo- 

 that the grey eagle is a junior bald eagle, 

 which has not arrived to muturnv. It is well 



