THE OWLS, 
227 
social. The bald-headed eagle {Haliaetus leucocephaliis) is 
dark-brown when young, and before shedding its youthful 
plumage is larger than the white-headed adult. It nests on 
inaccessible rocky points; is the sworn enemy of the fishv 
hawk, and, like it, fond of fish, often Avresting its living 
food from the talons of the hawk. This species is the em- 
blem of our country. The osprey or fish-hawk {Pandion 
haliaetus) is two-thirds of a metre long, nests in tall trees. 
Fig. 268.— Carolina Parroquet. 
and is migratory. Among the hawks, the most notable are 
the falcons or hunting hawks, used during the Middle 
Ages in hunting the hare, etc. ; in nature they chase their 
prey and kill it immediately, devouring it, and rejecting 
the bones and hair of the partly digested food in a ball 
from the mouth. 
The owl is a bird of the night; its flight is noiseless, ow- 
ing to its soft plumage, the feathers having no after-shaft. 
It has large eyes and a hooked bill, giving the bird of Mi- 
