14 



RING-TAIL EAGLE 



The tail feathers of this bird are highly valued by the various 

 tribes of American Indians for ornamenting their calumets, or 

 Pipes of Peace. Several of these pipes which were brought from 

 the remote regions of Louisiana by captain Lewis, are now depo- 

 sited in Mr. Peale's Museum, each of which has a number of the 

 tail feathers of this bird attached to it. The Northern as well as 

 Southern Indians seem to follow the like practice, as appears by 

 the numerous calumets, formerly belonging to different tribes, to 

 be seen in the same magnificent collection. 



Mr. Pennant informs us, that the independent Tartars train 

 this Eagle for the chase of hares, foxes, wolves, antelopes, &c. and 

 that they esteem the feathers of the tail the best for pluming their 

 arrows. The Ring-tail Eagle is characterized by all as a generous 

 spirited and docile bird; and various extraordinary incidents are 

 related of it by different wi'iters, not, however, sufficiently authen- 

 ticated to deserve repetition. The truth is, the solitary habits of 

 the Eagle now before us, the vast inaccessible cliffs to which it 

 usually retires, united with the scarcity of the species in those re- 

 gions inhabited by man, all combine to render a particular know- 

 ledge of its manners very difficult to be obtained. The author has, 

 once or twice, observed this bird sailing along the alpine declivi- 

 ties of the White mountains of New Hampshire, early in October, 

 and again, over the Highlands of Hudson's river, not far from 

 West Point. Its flight was easy, in high circuitous sweeps, its 

 broad white tail, tipped with brown, expanded like a fan. Near 

 the settlements on Hudson's Bay it is more common, and is said 

 to prey on hares, and the various species of Grous which abound 

 there. Buffon observes, that tho other Eagles also prey upon 

 hares, this species is a more fatal enemy to those timid animals, 

 which are the constant object of their search, and the prey which 

 they prefer. . The Latins, after Pliny, termed the Eagle Valeria 

 quasi valens viribuSj because of its strength, which appears greater 

 than that of the other Eagles in proportion to its size. r^0| 



