270 NATURAL HT8T0RY READER. 



9. "For my own part, I wish the bald eagle had not been 

 chosen as the representative of our country ; he is a bird of 

 bad moral character ; he does not get his living honestly. 

 You may have seen him perched on some dead tree, where, 

 too lazy to fish for himself, he watches the labor of the 

 fishing-] la wk ; and when that diligent bird has at length 

 taken a fish, and is bearing it to his nest for the support of 

 his mate and young ones, the bald eagle pursues him and 

 takes it from him. With all this injustice he is never in 

 good case, but, like those among men who live by sharping 

 and robbing, he is generally poor, and often very lousy. 



10. "Besides, he is a rank coward ; the little king-bird, 

 not bigger than a sparrow, attacks him boldly, and drives 

 him out of the district. He is, therefore, by no means a 

 proper emblem for the brave and' honest Cincinnati of 

 America, who have driven all the Mng-hivAs from our 

 country, though exactly fit for that order of knights which 

 the French call chevaliers cVindustrie. I am, on this 

 account, not displeased that the figure is not known as a 

 bald eagle, but looks more like a turkey. For, in truth, 

 the turkey is, in comparison, a much more respectable bird, 

 and withal a true original native of America. Eagles have 

 been found in all countries, but the turkey was peculiar to 

 ours. 



11. "He is, besides (though a little vain and silly, 'tis 

 true, but not the worse emblem for that), a bird of cour- 

 age, and would not hesitate to attack a grenadier of the 

 British Guards, who should presume to invade his farm- 

 yard with a red coat on." 



