SEA EAGLES. 573 



the highest trees. Its flight is as powerful as that of the Golden 

 Eagle, and its strength and adroitness are even greater. 



This Eagle is represented on the flag of the United States. 

 The illustrious Franklin with sorrow regretted the selection his 

 nation had made. 



"It is a bird of low and evil nature," wrote Franklin, in one of 

 his letters ; " it does not know how to gain its livelihood honestly. 

 Added to this, it is nothing but a cowardly rogue,. The little Wren, 

 which is not so large as a sparrow, resolutely attacks it, and drives 

 it from its haunts ! Thus, in no point of view is it a suitable 

 emblem for a brave and honourable nation." 



The varieties of this family are numerous on the North American 

 continent, but the distinctions are not sufficiently great to deserve 

 particular notice. Those from other portions of the globe most 

 worthy of attention are the Marine Eagle {Pandion ichthyaetus), which 

 inhabits Java; the Piscivorous Sea Eagle {Cuncuma vocifer) ; the 

 Caffir Sea Eagle, discovered in Africa by Levaillant ; the Sea Eagle of 

 Mace (C. Macei) ; and the, Pondicherry Eagle, called by some the 

 Sea Eagle of India, which inhabits India and Bengal, where the bird 

 is an object of veneration among the Brahmins, being consecrated to 

 V ishnu. 



We shall class with the same genus the Osprey {Pandion halicetus), 

 which, although different from Sea Eagles in certain details of 

 organisation, is, however, allied to them by its aquatic habits. It 

 prefers the neighbourhood of lakes and rivers to the sea-shore. It 

 is frequently mistaken for the Sea Eagle. Wild fowl and carrion are 

 sometimes its food, but fish forms the principal portion of its diet. 

 It does not always enjoy the fruit of its labour, for the Sea Eagle 

 frequently forces it to abandon its prey, which, if dropped in the ai r , 

 will be adroitly re-seized by the robber in its descent. 



The old naturalists, Aldrovandus, Gesner, Klein, and Linnaeus, 

 sanctioned a singular error concerning the organisation of this bird. 

 From the fact that it sometimes dives into the water to catch fish, 

 they imagined that it had one foot webbed for swimming, and the 

 other furnished with prehensile claws for seizing prey. The River 

 Osprey is about a third smaller than the Sea Eagle. It is found 

 all over Europe, but especially in Germany, Switzerland, and the 

 east of France, and also in the Canadas and United States. 



The birds which form part of the genus Morfihnus (Cuvier) 

 occupy a middle position between Eagles and Hawks, of which 

 we shall speak further on. They are characterised by a full and 

 rounded tail, comparatively short wings, and the existence of a tuft 



