THE EAGLE, KING OF BIRDS, AND HIS KIN 



61 



"let me whisper in your Ear" 



© William E. Finluy 



These old condors showed great affection for each other and for their chick. Condors do not 

 nest every year, and raise only one chick when they do. 



1)irds was in the Argentine Chaco near the 

 Pilcomayo River, at that time a wild 

 region where ranchers were just beginning 

 to invade the territory of the primitive 

 Toba Indians. 



On my first evening in this remote sec- 

 tion, I was engaged at twilight in setting 

 traps for little animals at the edge of a 

 forest. I remained on the alert for any 

 possible dangers in a country that was 

 new to me, as many tales had been told 

 regarding the Inchans. 



Suddenly, through the trees a hundred 

 yards away, came a loud shouting sound, 

 repeated steadily, then varied at short in- 

 tervals with a series of other calls, all 

 uttered in curiously human tones. After 

 a minute or two, another voice joined the 

 first, and the two called rapidly in a strange 

 medley that left me completely puzzled as 

 to whether the authors were bird, beast, or 

 human, as I crouched among the bushes, 

 gun in hand, with my skin tingling pleas- 

 antly at the thrill of the unknown in a 

 strange and possibly dangerous land. 



It was a day or two later that I traced 

 these weird, unearthly duets to the large, 

 white-headed, bushy-crested laughing fal- 



cons that were found everywhere through 

 the forests. 



The flight and appearance of hawks and 

 other birds, and certain of their anatomical 

 features, were used by the augurs of 

 ancient Rome in their prophecies of the 

 future. 



INDIANS USE EAGLE EEATIIERS AS 

 ADORNMENT 



A more practical use of these birds was 

 found among the North American Indians, 

 particularly of the Plains and Pueblo 

 groups, when beautiful headdresses were 

 made from the large feathers of the golden 

 eagle, and other ornaments and decora- 

 tions were fashioned from the smaller 

 feathers of this bird and from the feathers 

 of hawks. The downy bases of the eagle 

 feathers sometimes were twisted in strands 

 that were woven into feather blankets of a 

 peculiar and interesting type. Hawks and 

 eagle claws were used to make necklaces 

 and other decorations. 



The Pueblo Indians kept hawks in cap- 

 tivity, as they did turkeys and macaws, 

 presumably to use their feathers in their 

 prayers and decorations. Numbers of 



