THE KING OF THE BIRDS. 
129 
fishing season ; and when they see him hover- 
ing over the sea, they know that the shoals 
of herrings and other fish have arrived too ; 
and they never begrudge him his share. 
The treatment he receives from the eagle is 
certainly very unjust ; but perhaps the royal 
bird thinks he has a right to the fish as a 
perquisite. At all events, he does not scruple 
to carry out the principle of might against 
right. 
The eagle does get punished sometimes, 
and very deservedly. The hawks, out of 
patience at being cheated of their prey, unite, 
and drive him from the neighbourhood. Then 
he is obliged to hunt for himself, and goes 
inland, and destroys numbers of smaller 
animals, such as pigs and lambs, and even 
sheep. Ducks and geese, and every kind of 
fowl, fall victims to his appetite ; and the 
farmer, in that part of the world, dreads the 
eagle quite as much as he does the wolf. 
But I can give you another scene from the 
life of the eagle. 
You must imagine a broad river, almost 
like a sea, and its surface covered with 
myriads of water-fowl, skimming about, and 
