The Birds of North America. 



Popular History. 



PLATE I. 

 The White-headed or Baid Eagle. (HaliaUns leucoccplialus.') 



This noble bird being the adopted emblem of our beloved Re- 

 public, it is first introduced to the kind reader ; and he is indeed 

 fully entitled to a particular notice, as he is the most beautiful 

 of his tribe in North America. 



The Bald Eagle has long been known to naturalists, being com- 

 mon to both Continents, and has occasionally been found in very 

 high northern latitudes, as well as near the borders of the torrid 

 zone, chiefly in the vicinity of the sea or on the shores and cliffs 

 of lakes and large rivers. His food consists chiefly of fish, of 

 which he seems to be very fond, but he will not refuse, when 

 driven by hunger, to regale himself on a lamb or young pig ; he 

 will even, " in hard times," snatch from a vulture the carrion on 

 which he is feeding. 



The ardor and energy of the Bald Eagle might awaken a full 

 share of deep interest, were they not associated with so much 

 robbery and wanton exercise of power, for he habitually despoils 

 the Osprey or Fish-hawk of his prey. Of the singular manner in 

 which he does this, Alexander Wilson, in his work on North 

 American birds, says : 



" Elevated on a high dead limb of some gigantic tree, that com- 

 mands a wide view of the neighboring shore and ocean, he seems 

 calmly to contemplate the motions of the various feathered tribes 

 that pursue their busy avocations below — the snow-white Gulls, 

 slowly winnowing the air ; the busy Tringse (Sandpipers) coursing 

 along the sands ; trains of Ducks, streaming over the surface ; silent 

 and watchful Cranes, intent and wading ; clamorous Crows, and 

 all the winged multitudes that subsist by the bounty of this vast 

 liquid magazine of nature. High over all these hovers one whose 

 action instantly arrests his whole attention. By his wide curvature 

 of wing and sudden suspension in the air, he knows him to be the 

 Fish-hawk, settling over some devoted victim of the deep. His 

 eye kindles at the sight, and balancing himself with half-opened 

 wings on the branch, he watches the result. Down, rapid as an 

 arrow from heaven, descends the distant object of his attention, 

 the roar of his wings reaching the ear, as it disappears in the deep, 

 making the surges foam around. At this moment, the eager looks 

 of the eagle are all ardor, and leveling his neck for flight, he sees 

 the Fish-hawk once more emerge struggling with his prey and 

 mounting in the air with screams of exultation. These are the 

 signals for our hero, who, launching into the air, instantly gives 

 chase, and soon gains on the Fish-hawk ; each exerts his utmost 

 to mount above the other, displaying in these rencounters the most 

 elegant and sublime aerial evolutions. The unincumbered Eagle 

 rapidly advances, and is just at the point of reaching his opponent, 

 when, with a sudden scream, probably of despair and honest exe- 

 cration, the latter drops his fish ; the Eagle, poising himself for a 

 moment, as if to take a more certain aim, descends like a whirl- 

 wind, snatches it in his grasp ere it reaches the water, and bears 

 his ill-gotten booty silently to the woods." 



Dr. Franklin is rather severe on this emblem of our National 

 Union. He says : 



" For my 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 upon some dead tree, where, too lazy to fish for him- 

 self, he watches for the labors of the Fishing-hawk, 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 very often lousy. 

 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 out all the King- 

 birds from our country, though exactly fitted for the order of 

 knights which the French call Chevaliers d'Industrie." 



The Falls of Niagara are one of his favorite haunts, on account 

 of the fish caught there, and the attraction presented by the nu- 

 merous remains of squirrels, deer, and other animals, which perish 

 in attempting to cross the river above the cataract. 



The nest of this species is generally fixed on a very large and 

 lofty tree, often in a swamp or morass, and difficult to ascend. It 

 is formed of large sticks, sods, earthy rubbish, hay, corn-stalks, 

 rushes, moss, etc., and contains, in due time, two eggs of about 

 the size of a goose egg and of a bluish white color. The young 

 are at first covered with a whitish or cream-colored down and have 

 light bluish eyes. This cream color changes gradually into a 

 bluish gray ; as the development of the feathers advances, the light 

 blue eyes turn by degrees to a dark hazel brown ; when full grown, 

 they are covered wholly with lighter or darker brown feathers, un- 

 til after the third year, when the white of the head and tail grad- 

 ually appears ; at the end of the fourth year he is perfect and of an 

 appearance as seen on our plate, his eyes having changed to a 

 bright straw color. 



The Bald Eagle is three feet long, and measures from tip to tip 

 of the wing about seven feet. The conformation of the wing is 

 admirably adapted for the support of so large a bird ; it measures 

 two feet in breadth on the greater quills and sixteen inches on the 

 lesser ; the larger primaries are about twenty inches in length and 

 upward of one inch in circumference where they enter into the 

 skin ; the broadest secondaries are three inches in breadth across 

 the vane ; the scapulars are very large and broad, spreading from 

 the back to the wing, to prevent the air from passing through. 

 Another range of broad flat feathers, from three to ten inches long, 

 extends from the lower part of the breast to the wing below for the 

 same purpose, and between these lies a deep triangular cavity ; the 

 thighs are remarkably thick, strong, and muscular, covered with 

 long feathers pointing backward. The legs are half covered be- 

 low the tarsal joint ; the soles of the feet are rough and warty. 



The male is generally three inches shorter than the female ; the 

 white on the head and tail is duller, and the whole appearance less 

 formidable ; the brown plumage is lighter, and the bird himself is 

 less daring than the female, a circumstance common to all birds of 

 prey. 



