198 AUDUBON THE NATURALIST. 
of how I could take away his life with the least 
pain to him. I consulted several persons on the 
subject, and among others, my most worthy 
and generous friend, Dr. George Parkman, who 
kindly visited my family every day. He spoke. 
of suffocating him by means of burning charcoal, 
of killing him by electricity, etc, and we both 
concluded that the first method would be pro- 
bably the easiest for ourselves, and the least pain- 
ful to him. Accordingly the bird was removed 
in his prison to a very small room, and closely 
covered with blankets—a pan of lighted charcoal 
was introduced, the windows and doors fastened, 
and the blankets tucked in beneath the cage I 
waited, expecting every moment to hear him fall 
down from his perch; but after listening for 
hours, I opened the door, raised the blankets, 
and peeped under them amidst a mass of sutfo- 
cating fumes. There stood the eagle on his 
perch, with his bright, unflinching eye turned 
towards me, and as lively and vigorous as eve ! 
Instantly reclosing every aperture, I resumed 
my station at the door, and towards midnight, 
not having heard the least noise, I again took a 
peep at my victim. He was still uninjured, al- 
though the air of the closet was insupportable 
to my son and myself, and that of the adjoining 
apartment began to feel unpleasant. I per: 
severed, however, for ten hours in all, when, 
