CARACARA EAGLE. 351 



its movements, until it arose, when once more I shot, but without effect. 

 It sailed off in large circles, gliding in a very elegant manner, and now 

 and then diving downwards and rising again. 



Two days elapsed before it returned. Being apprised by o. friend of 

 this desired event, instead of going after it myself, I dispatched my as- 

 sistant, who returned with it in little more than half an hour. I imme- 

 diately began my drawing of it. The weather was sultry, the thermo- 

 meter being at 89°; and, to my surprise, the vivid tints of the plumage 

 were fading much faster than I had ever seen them in like circumstances, 

 insomuch that Dr Bell of Dublin, who saw it when fresh, and also when 

 I was finishing the drawing twenty-four hours after, said he could scarcely 

 believe it to be the same bird. How often have I thoiight of the changes 

 which I have seen effected in the colours of the bill, legs, eyes, and even 

 the plumage of birds, when looking on imitations which I was aware 

 were taken from stuffed specimens, and which I well knew could not be 

 accurate ! The skin, when the bird v/as quite recent, was of a bright 

 yellow. The bird was extremely lousy. Its stomach contained the re- 

 mains of a bullfrog, numerous hard-shelled worms, and a quantity of horse 

 and deer-hair. The skin was saved with great difficulty, and its plumage 

 had entirely lost its original lightness of colouring. The deep red of the 

 fleshy parts of the head had assumed a purplish livid hue, and the spoil 

 scarcely resembled the coat of the living Eagle. 



I made a double drawing of this individual, for the purpose of shew- 

 ing all its feathers, which I hope will be found to be accurately repre- 

 sented. 



Since the period when I obtained the specimen above mentioned, I 

 have seen several others, in which no remarkable differences were ob- 

 served between the sexes, or in the general colouring. My friend Dr 

 Benjamin Strobel, of Charleston, South Carolina, who has resided on 

 the west coast of Florida, procured several individuals for the Reverend 

 John Bachman, and informed me that the species undoubtedly breeds 

 in that part of the country, but I have never seen its nest. It has never 

 been seen on any of the Keys along the eastern coast of that peninsula ; 

 and I am not aware that it has been observed any where to the eastward 

 of the Capes of Florida. 



The most remarkable difference with respect to habits, between these 

 birds and the American Vultures, is the power which they possess of car- 

 rying their prey in their talons. They often walk about, and in the 



