THE EAGLE. 



Bird of the broad and sweeping wing, 

 Thy home is high in heaven, 



Where wide the storms their banners fling, 

 And the tempest clouds are driven. 



— Percival. 



THE bald eagle became the bird 

 of our nation in the year 1873. 

 It is at home in all parts 

 of North America. Its nest in 

 the top of a lofty tree is a common 

 landmark in Maine, and on the great 

 mountain peaks of the western states 

 the nest is usually placed upon the 

 rock where no man nor beast is able to 

 climb. 



The American eagle lives in America 

 only, but an eagle living in the Old 

 World looks very much like it. The 

 American bird is larger than the one 

 found in Europe. It is believed that 

 the bird of our country sometimes 

 visits Europe, for an eagle is seen 

 there at times that seems to be our own 

 bald eagle. 



The birds that have beaks and claws 

 like those of the eagle are very 

 much like the cat family upon the 

 ground. They are all fierce hunters 

 and live upon weaker animals and 

 birds. The greatest of all the cat fam- 

 ily is the lion, the king of beasts. The 

 greatest of the cats of the air is the 

 eagle, and he is called the king of 

 birds. 



As the cats have claws and teeth for 

 catching and tearing their prey so the 

 eagles have beaks and talons which 

 are strong and sharp. The cats come 

 quickly upon their prey without the 

 least noise. So do the eagles. They 

 come down from the sky like lightning 

 and nothing is swift enough to get 

 away, unless it is warned of the eagle's 

 coming. 



An eagle sometimes lives to be over 

 one hundred years old. Many years 

 ago it was said that an eagle never 

 dies of sickness nor of old age, but that 

 its beak grows out of shape in its last 

 years so that it cannot eat. 



All people have admired the eagle. 

 The Indians of America have always 

 liked to wear the feathers of the king 

 of birds, and in Scotland the chief was 

 known by the feather of an eagle 

 which he wore in his bonnet. 



It often happens that a young eagle 

 looks much larger than its father or 

 mother. This is because the first feath- 

 ers of the wings and tail are longer than 

 the ones that grow m their place when 

 the young eagle has once shed them. 

 The young eagle is also darker than 

 the old one. This is why some people 

 have made mistakes in writing about 

 them without knowing a young eagle 

 from an old one. 



Eagles of the same kind are not 

 always of the same color. Some are 

 darker than others and the markings 

 are not alike. Some young eagles 

 shed their downy feathers early and 

 wear the dress of grown-up birds. 

 Others keep some or all of their baby 

 feathers five or six years. And there 

 are some very old eagles still wearing 

 some of the downy feathers of their 

 first dresses. 



Eagles kept in cages lose some of 

 their fierce ways and change the colors 

 of their dress. But they do not forget 

 that they are eagles. A large cat 

 once went under the bars of an eagle's 

 cage to get the meat which had not 

 been eaten by the bird. Down came 

 the eagle, tore the cat to pieces, and 

 ate him in a hurry. 



The bald eagle is \'ery fond of fish. 

 I have seen him on a bright day sailing 

 high above a lake where I was fishing. 

 He was so slow and lazy that I did not 

 think he was fishing too. But when he 

 saw a fine large fish near the top of 

 the water he came down like a flash, 

 struck his claws into the fish, and flew 

 away to his mate in atree upon the land. 



Sometimes the eagle gets the fish 

 hawk to do the work for him. Wait- 

 ing on the branch of some tree upon 

 the shore he sees the fish hawk flying 

 about over the water looking for his 

 prey. As soon as a fish has been caught 

 and the hawk is coming ashore to eat 

 it. the eagle frightens the hawk so as 

 to make him drop his fish. Then the 

 eagle catches it again before it strikes 

 the water. 



