66 DIVISION I. VERTEBRAL ANIMALS.— CLASS II. AVES. 
outstripping even the tempests themselves, unawed by anything but man, and 
from the ethereal heights to which he soars, looking abroad at one glance 
over an immeasurable expanse of forests, fields, lakes, and ocean deep be- 
low him, he appears indifferent to the change of seasons, as, in a few min- 
utes, he can pass from summer to winter, from the lower to the higher 
regions of the atmosphere (the abode of eternal cold), and thence descend 
at will to the torrid or to the arctic regions of the earth. He is, therefore, 
found at all seasons in the countries he inhabits, but prefers such places as 
have been mentioned above, from the great partiality he has for fish.” “In 
procuring these, he displays, in a very singular manner, the genius and 
energy of his character, which is fierce, contemplative, daring, and tyran- 
nical — attributes not exerted but on particular occasions, but, when put 
forth, overpowering all opposition. Elevated on the high, dead limb of 
some givantic tree, that commands a wide view of the neighboring shore 
and ocean, he seems calmly to contemplate the motions of the various feath- 
ered tribes that pursue their busy avocations below — the snow-white gulls 
slowly winnowing the air, the busy érdéxge coursing along the sands, silent 
and watchful cranes intent and wading, clamorous crows, and all the winged 
multitudes that subsist by the bounty of this vast magazine of nature. High 
over all these hovers one, whose action instantly arrests his whole attention. 
By his wide curvature of wing, and sudden suspension in air, he knows him 
to be the fish-hawk, settling over some devoted victim of the deep. His eye 
kindles at the sight, and, balancing himself with half-opened wings on the 
branch, he awaits the result. Down, rapid as an arrow, from heaven de- 
scends the distant object of his attention, the roar of its wings reaching the 
ear as it disappears in the deep, making the surges foam around. At this 
moment the eager looks of the eagle are all ardor; and, levelling his neck ° 
for flight, he sees the fish-hawk once more emerge, struggling with his prey, 
and mounting in the air with screams of exultation. These are the signal 
for the eagle, who, launching into the air, instantly gives chase, and soon 
gains on the fish-hawk. Each exerts his utmost to mount above the other, 
displaying ithese rencontres the most elegant and sublime aerial evolutions. 
The unencumbered eagle rapidly advances, and is just on the point of 
reaching his opponent, when, with a sudden scream, probably of despair 
and honest execration, the latter drops his fish: the Eagle, poising himself 
for a moment, as if to take a more certain aim, descends like a whirlwind, 
snatches it in his grasp ere it reaches the water, and bears his ill-gotten booty 
silently away to the woods.” 
This is not the only mode in which the White-headed Eagle procures his 
sustenance. Young lambs and pigs, ducks, geese, swans, and various sea- 
fowl, are attacked and carricd ay ray. Mr. J. Gardiner stated to Wilson, 
