WHITE-HEADED EAGLE. IGl 



his attention. The next moment, however, the wild trumpet-hke sound 

 of a yet distant but approaching Swan is heard. A shriek from the 

 female Eagle comes across the stream, — for, kind reader, she is fully as 

 alert as her mate. The latter suddenly shakes the whole of his body, 

 and with a few touches of his bill, aided by the action of his cuticidar 

 muscles, arranges his plumage in an instant. The snow-white bird is 

 now in sight : her long neck is stretched forward, her eye is on the 

 watch, vigilant as that of her enemy ; her large wings seem with dif- 

 ficulty to support the weight of her body, although they flap incessantly. 

 So irksome do her exertions seem, that her very legs are spread beneath 

 her tail, to aid her in her flight. She approaches, however. The Eagle 

 has marked her for his prey. As the Swan is passing the dreaded pair, 

 starts from his perch, in full preparation for the chase, the male bird, 

 with an awful scream, that to the Swan's ear brings more terror than the 

 report of the large duck-gun. 



Now is the moment to witness the display of the Eagle's powers. He 

 glides through the air like a falling star, and, like a flash of lightning, 

 comes upon the timorous quarry, which now, in agony and despair, seeks, 

 by various manoeuvres, to elude the grasp of his cruel talons. It mounts, 

 doubles, and willingly would plunge into the stream, were it not prevent- 

 ed by the Eagle, which, long possessed of the knowledge that by such a 

 stratagem the Swan might escape him, forces it to remain in the air by 

 attempting to strike it with his talons from beneath. The hope of es- 

 cape is soon given up by the Swan. It has already become much weak- 

 ened, and its strength fails at the sight of the courage and swiftness of its 

 antagonist. Its last gasp is about to escape, when the ferocious Eagle 

 strikes with his talons the under side of its wing, and with unresisted 

 power forces the bird to fall in a slanting direction upon the nearest 

 shore. v _„ 



It is then, reader, that you may see the cruel spirit of this dreaded 

 enemy of the feathered race, whilst, exulting over his prey, he for the 

 first time breathes at ease. He presses doAvn his powerful feet, and 

 drives his sharp claws deeper than ever into the heart of the dying Swan. 

 He shrieks with delight, as he feels the last convulsions of his prey, which 

 has now sunk under his unceasing efforts to render death as painfully 

 felt as it can possibly be. The female has watched every movement of her 

 mate ; and if she did not assist him in capturing the Swan, it was not 

 from want of will, but merely that she felt full assurance that the power 



