42 ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS. 



attacks it fiercely iii the air, the cowardly Vulture in- 

 stantly disgorges, and the delicious contents are snatched 

 up by the Eagle before they reach the ground." In 

 fact it would appear that simple rapine, unless accom- 

 panied by the spoliation of another, is insufficient to 

 satisfy the despotic temperament of this rapacious bird. 

 His most common method of obtaining food, according 

 to the concurrent testimony of American authors, con- 

 sists in snatching from the Fish-Hawk, which appears 

 to be a variety of the Balbusard or Osprey, the hard- 

 earned morsel for which the latter has watched and 

 toiled in vain. The manner in which he performs this 

 cruel exploit is so admirably detailed in the excellent 

 work to which we have had occasion so frequently to 

 refer in the course of the present article, that it would 

 be impossible to convey any thing like an adequate 

 idea of the picture there sketched by the hand of one 

 Avho was a perfect master of his subject, without ex- 

 tracting the entire passage. 



" Elevated," says Wilson, " on the high dead hmb 

 of some gigantic tree that commands a wide view of 

 the neighbouring shore and ocean, he seems calmly to 

 contemplate the motions of the various feathered tribes 

 that pursue their busy avocations below; the snow- 

 white Gulls slowly winnowing the air; the busy Tringas 

 coursing along the sands ; trains of Ducks streaming- 

 over the surface ; silent and watchful Cranes, intent 

 and wading; clamorous Crows, and all the winged 

 multitudes that subsist by the bounty of this vast liquid 

 magazine of nature. High over all these hovers one 

 whose action instantly arrests his attention. By his 

 wide curvature of wing, and sudden suspension in the 

 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 



