162 WHITE-HEADED EAGLE. 



The females were not only larger, but almost black, whilst the males 

 were much lighter and of less weight. 



Some weeks afterwards, when young Eagles would have been thought 

 a dainty even by our most prejudiced companions — for you must not sup- 

 pose, reader, that every student of nature meets with " pigs ready roasted'" 

 in our woods — we saw an old White-headed Eagle perched on a tall tree 

 at the edge of the river. While admiring its posture, by means of a 

 telescope, and marking its eye keenly bent towards the water, it suddenly 

 dropped like a stone from its perch, almost immersed its body into the 

 stream, and rose with a large trout, with which it scrambled to the shore. 

 Our captain, his first lieutenant, my assistant, and your humble servant, 

 were present on this occasion, and saw it very composedly eat the fish, af- 

 ter shaking the water from its plumage. I must add that never before 

 had I seen this bird plunge into the water, although I had several times 

 seen it scrambling after small fishes in shallows and gravel banks. 



February 9Qth. — I saw some Fish-Hawks defend themselves, and chase 

 away from their nests the Bald Eagle. The former were incubating, and 

 the latter, as well as some Turkey Buzzards, were anxiously trying to rob 

 the nest, wherever they found the Fisher Bird absent from its tenement. 

 The Fish-hawks at last collected from different parts of the river, and I felt 

 great pleasure in seeing these brave birds actually drive away their coward- 

 ly enemies. The Fish-Hawk had only eggs in that country when the 

 young of the Eagle were large and fully able to fly. 



Bay ofFundy, \Qth May 1833. — While admiring the extraordinary 

 boldness of the rocky shores of this perhaps most wonderful of all bays, 

 and trying to discover in what manner the stupendous natural fortifica- 

 tions are connected with the formidable tides that dash against them, I 

 observed Crows, Ravens, and the White-headed Eagle, leisurely feeding on 

 mussels and sea-eggs. The rocks were clad towards their summits with 

 melancholy firs, of which each broken branch told of a tempest ; shmy 

 sea- weeds hung sluggishly over the waters ; and, as each successive wave 

 retired, banks of shells were exposed to view, closely impacted, and con- 

 veying to my mind the idea of gigantic honeycombs. 



Labrador, July 1833. — The White-headed Eagle is unknown in this 

 country, although many Fish-Hawks are found here, and I saw several 

 of their nests, placed on the low fir trees. 



Boston, Massachusetts, 9Ast November 1832. — This morning I receiv- 

 ed the following letter from my learned friend Jacob Bigelow, Esq. 



