IGA: The Home of the Harpy-Eagle. [ March, 
Of all the aguzlinae, the harpy is the only one that tolerates no 
interference with his business by jackdaws, jaybirds and other po- 
lice agents of the woods. In his excursions to'the upper moun- 
tain forests he is often attacked by swarms of the iris-crow, the 
sworn enemy of the falcon kind and all other Raptores ; but, un- 
like the others, the harpy invariably turns upon his pursuers, and 
by capturing and tearing one or two, greatly moderates the zeal 
of the others. 
In the choice of his game he shows a great latitude of taste and 
seems to devour with equal relish a fat iguana-lizard, a young 
woodcock or a tough old monkey. During the wet season, when 
pheasants won’t break cover and squirrels stay at home, the Harp- 
yia destructor may often be seen perched on some overhanging 
bough at the edge of a lagoon or large river, in wait for waterfowl. 
If you can watch him unobserved, you may see him get ready if the 
squawk of an approaching string of wood-ducks resounds from the 
depths of the everglades. He half opens his wings, bends his head 
up and down so as to put his perch into a rocking motion, and 
then leans forward like a catamount preparing for a spring. As _ 
soon as the unsuspecting mallards have passed his tree, he flings _ 
himself ahead, with wings laid back and claws ready for action and 
shoots like an arrow between the water surface and his game, thus _ 
getting them completely at his mercy. After rushing forward in 
blind obstreperous flight for a few hundred yards, the frightened 
ducks resign themselves to their instinct, which guides them 
waterwards ; but before they touch the saving element the harpy 
is in their midst, with time enough and to spare, to make a judic- _ 
ious selection. He can catch fish, too; does not disdain the black _ 
watersnakes that glide through the shallow ponds of the coast- : 
jungles, and even anticipates the trick of the tortoise hunters that 
uncover the oily eggs which the carey turtle has covered with the a 
sand of the shallow river banks. But during the larger part of | 
the year he seeks his quarry on the trees of his native woods, 
and causes more distress and dire commotion among the tribes of : 
‘the gallinaceous tree birds, raccoons, frugivorous rodents and — 
monkeys than all their other enemies taken together. 
The upper branches of the tall mango trees which are visited 
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