?HE ODLOGIST. 



whic'.i was riding at anchor some two miles 

 away, and I began to think that I w;i: 

 effectually caged and that I should be 

 obliged to throw down a greater part of the 

 nest in order to reach the limb, and indeed, 

 had began to do this, when I unexpectedly 

 came across it, swung myself over the edge, 

 and was sjon on the solid ground. This 

 last nest which I have described, was not 

 over thirty feet in air and I have seen them 

 built even lower on the isolated keys of 

 which I have been speaking. 



These Eagle's feed largely upon fish 

 which they sometimes procure by robbing 

 the Osprey but they often cap; ore it foi 

 themselves by diving into the water. They 

 will take wounded Ducks, and I once saw 

 one swoop down and carry away a Buffle 

 Head which I had just shot and which was 

 lying on the water only a few yards distant. 



While encamped on a small island in the 

 Gulf of Mexico, near the mouth of the Su- 

 wannee River, I heard, one morning, a 

 loud squealing among the half -wild hogs, 

 of which there was an abundance in the 

 place and, taking my rifle, went out to as- 

 certain the cause of the commotion. I 

 found that three Eagles were attacking the 

 newly born progeny of and old sow and she 

 was endeavoring to defend them. The 

 little grunters, of which there were several, 

 had taken refuge under the top of a fallen 

 tree which, however, only afforded them 

 partial protection; thus the Eagles could 

 see them and, tempted by the dainty tit- 

 bits, would swoop downward and endeavor 

 to grasp the little black ahd white pigs in 

 their talons but were constantly repulsed 

 by the anxious mother who bravely defend- 

 ed her offspring, at the same time giving 

 vent to some of the most ear-splitting 

 squeals that ever a distressed hog uttered. 

 I do not know how the strife would have 

 ended, had I not interfered with my rifle so 

 effectually that two Eagles lay dead upon the 

 ground and the third flew away badly 

 frightened. The Bald-headed Eagles, as 

 they are sometimes called, breed in the 

 North late in February and on Grand 

 Menan, where they sometimes nest on 

 rocky cliffs, during the first two weeks in 



March. —Maynard's Birds of North Amer- 



How We Shot a Golden Eagle 



While a friend and I were rabbit hunt- 

 ing a few miles north of Detroit on Dec. 

 3rd, 1887, our attention was called to a flock 

 of cr.iws on the wing. They appeared to 

 be in great confusion and their loud con- 

 tinuous cawing could be plainly heard 

 though the birds themselves were scarcely 

 visible. Curious to know, what had caus- 

 ed this disturbance, I requested my friend 

 (who f ortunatly had a pair of field glasses) 

 tu try and rind out. He applied the glasses 

 to his eyes and after looking a few moments, 

 he informed me, that the crows were chas- 

 ing a large bird, that they were making for 

 the woods in which we were and that by 

 concealing ourselves we were likely to get 

 a shot. Upon this plan we immediately- 

 acted, my friend taking a position behind 

 a large oak, while I got under a thick hazel 

 bush. In this position we remained until 

 the bird had arrived within gun shot, then 

 rising j gave him my right barrel but was 

 only rewarded by a cloud of feathers. 

 This didn't turn him however and when he 

 got nearly over me I gave him the remain- 

 ing barrel the result being a clean miss. 

 Quicker than I can write it, I had a cart- 

 ridge in the gun and taking a quick aim fir- 

 ed. I think I hit him for he dropped a few 

 feet but the next instant he had gained his 

 former elevation and speed. Seeing that he 

 was making straight for the place where my 

 friend was concealed, I paid no further at- 

 tention to it but kej3t my eye on the tree, 

 behind which I knew he had hidden One. 

 two, three, and four seconds passed; would 

 he ever shoot? It didn't seem so. Sud- 

 denly a puff of smoke issued from a low 

 bush near the base of the tree, followed by 

 a loud report. I turned toward the eagle 

 (for an eagle it really was, and a large male 

 of the Golden species at that) and was just 

 in time to see it fall struggling to the 

 ground. Well, the time I took in covering 

 the space between the eagle and where I 

 was, can hardly be equnleci. The moment 



