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THE GOLDEN OR CANADIAN EAGLE. 



The great naturalist, Linnseus, awards to the Golden 

 eagle the cognomen " Canadensis, " a name passing 

 sweet to our ear. 



Naturalists now recognize on this continent three 

 species of eagles, the golden or Canadian, the bald, and 

 the sea eagle, the latter being restored in Coues' Club 

 list, 2nd edition, after having been dropped from the 

 first. Let us at once note the removal of another 

 species from the works of modern ornithologists : the 

 majestic eagle once only met and captured by Audu- 

 bon, to which he awarded the glorious name of the 

 father of American Independence, by calling in the 

 " Bird of Washington." It is now admitted that instead 

 of being a distinct species, it was merely an overgrown 

 specimen of one of the three species now recognized. 



The golden eagle, though rarer then in the New Eng- 

 land States, is far from being common round Quebec. The 

 finding an eagle's or a humming bird's nest marks an 

 epoch in the life of a naturalist. " Although powerful 

 in flight," says Audubon, " it has not the speed of many 

 hawks, nor even of the white-headed eagle. It cannot, 

 like the latter, pursue and seize on the wing the prey it 

 longs for, but is obliged to glide down through the air 

 for a certain height to insure the success of its enter- 

 prise. The keenness of its eye, however, makes up for 

 the defect, and enables it to spy at a great distance the 

 objects on which it preys, and it seldom misses its aim, 

 as it falls with the swiftness of a meteor towards the 

 spot on which they are concealed. When at a great 

 height in the air, its gyrations are uncommonly beauti- 

 ful, being slow and of wide circuit, and becoming the 

 majesty of the king of birds. It often continues them 

 for hours at a time, with apparently the greatest ease." 

 " The notes of this species are sharp and harsh, resem- 

 bling at times the barking of a dog, especially about the 

 breeding season, when the birds become extremely 



