42 
VERTEBRATA. 
THE BALD EAGLE. 
it to be long confounded with the Great Sea Eagle. It is found along the sea-coasts, lakes, 
and rivers throughout the Arctic circle, and is met with in the northern parts of Europe, 
Asia, and America. It is common in the United States, and breeds along the borders of the 
ocean, usually making its nest in a secluded situation, on some lofty pine or cypress ; this is com- 
posed of lai'ge sticks, four or five feet in length, forming a foundation, on which is laid a covering 
of sods, hay, moss, weeds, pine tops, and other coarse materials, all forming a pile five or six feet 
high, and four or five in breadth. On this almost hard bed, eggs are laid, usually at long inter- 
vals, so that the young are hatched at difi"erent periods. Here the young are sedulously fed, 
principally on fish ; they continue to resort to the nest as their home and refuge, long after they 
are able to fly and provide for themselves. It is common for the old birds to breed year after 
year, in the same haunts. 
The jaugnacious habits of this bold and powerful bird, have excited the admiration, and stimu- 
lated the descriptive powers of many naturalists ; but Wilson, in a celebrated passage, has surpassed 
all others, and excited in the reader emotions of sublimity rivaling those of the actual beholder. 
" This distinguished bird," says he, " is the most beautiful of his tribe in this part of the world, 
and the adopted emblem of our country; it is therefore entitled to particular notice. The 
celebrated Cataract of Niagara is a noted place of resort for these birds, as well on account of 
the fish procured there, as for the numerous carcasses of squirrels, deer, bears, and various other 
animals, that, in their attempts to cross the river above the Falls, have been dragged into the 
