g 2 WHITE-HEADED, OR BALD EAGLE. 



as well on account of the fish procured there, as for the 

 numerous carcasses of squirrels, deer, bears, and various other 

 animals, that, in their attempts to. cross the river above the 



dreaded pair, starts from his perch, in full preparation for the chase, the 

 male bird, with an awful scream. 



" Now is the moment to witness a display of the eagle's powers. He 

 glides through the air like a falling star, and, like a flash of lightning, 

 comes upon the timorous quarry, which now, in agony and despair, 

 seeks, by various manoeuvres, to elude the grasp of his cruel talons. It 

 mounts, doubles, and willingly would plunge into the stream, were it 

 not prevented by the eagle, which, long possessed of the knowledge that, 

 by such a stratagem, the swan might escape him, forces it to remain in 

 the air, by attempting to strike it with his talons from beneath. The 

 hope of escape is soon given up by the swan. It has already become 

 much weakened, and its strength fails at the sight of the courage and 

 swiftness of its antagonist. Its last gasp is about to escape, when the 

 ferocious eagle strikes with his talons the under side of its wing, and, 

 with unresisted power, forces the bird to fall in a slanting direction upon 

 the nearest shore." 



And, again, when hunting in concert after some bird which has 

 alighted on the water : — 



" At other times, when these eagles, sailing in search of prey, discover 

 a goose, a duck, or a swan, that has alighted on the water, they accom- 

 plish its destruction in a manner that is worthy of our attention. Well 

 aware that water-fowl have it in their power to dive at their approach, 

 and thereby elude their attempts upon them, they ascend in the air, in 

 opposite directions, over the lake or river on which the object which 

 they are desirous of possessing has been observed. Both reach a certain 

 height, immediately after which, one of them glides with great swiftness 

 towards the prey ; the latter, meantime, aware of the eagle's intention, 

 dives the moment before he reaches the spot. The pursuer then rises 

 in the air, and is met by its mate, which glides towards the water-bird, 

 that has just emerged to breathe, and forces it to plunge again beneath 

 the surface, to escape the talons of this second assailant. The first eagle 

 is now poising itself in the place where its mate formerly was, and rushes 

 anew, to force the quarry to make another plunge. By thus alternately 

 gliding, in rapid and often repeated rushes, over the ill-fated bird, they 

 soon fatigue it, when it stretches out its neck, swims deeply, and makes 

 for the shore, in the hope of concealing itself among the rank weeds. 

 But this is of no avail ; for the eagles follow it in all its motions ; and 

 the moment it approaches the margin, one of them darts upon it." 



The bald eagle was met with in the Overland Arctic Expedition, but, 

 towards the north, was only a summer visitant ; in the Fur Countries, 



