THE BALD OK WHITE-HEADED EAGLE. 101 



The plumage of the bald eagle is of a chocolate-brown, 

 inclining to black along the back, while the bill and upper 

 tail-coverts are of the same white hue as the head and neck. 

 He and his mate build their nest in some lofty tree amid a 

 swamp ; and repairing it every season, it becomes of great 

 size. Its position is generally known by the offensive odour 

 arising from the number of fish scattered around, which they 

 have let drop after their predatory excursions. The nest is 

 roughly formed of large sticks, moss, roots, and tufts of grass. 

 They commence making fresh additions to their nest early in 

 the year ; and the female deposits her eggs in January, and 

 hatches the young by the middle of the following month. 

 Robbers as they are, the white-headed eagles exhibit great 

 parental affection, tending their young as long as they are 

 helpless and unfledged ; nor will they forsake them even 

 should the tree in which their nest is built be surrounded 

 by flames. Wilson, the American naturalist, mentions seeing 

 a tree cut down in order to obtain an eagle's nest. The 

 parent birds continued flying clamorously round, and could 

 with difficulty be driven away from the bodies of their 

 fledgelings, killed by the fall of the lofty pine. 



Audubon gives us an account of a savage attack he once 

 witnessed made by an eagle and his mate on a swan : — The 

 fierce eagle, having mai-ked the snow-wdiite bird as his prey, 

 summons his companion. As the swan is passing near 

 the dreaded pair, the eagle, in preparation for the chase, 

 starts from his perch on a tall pine, w r ith an aw r ful scream, 

 that to the swan brings more terror than the report of the 

 largest duck-gun. Now is the moment to witness the dis- 

 play of the eagle's power. He glides through the air like a 

 falling star, and comes upon the timorous quarry, which now, 



