130 THE KING OF THE BIRDS. 
enjoying life after their own fashion. The 
alligator may lurk among the reeds, and the 
hawk or the eagle be close at hand ; but 
none of these enemies are in sight, and the 
scene is one of peace and apparent security. 
And yet all this time the eagle is at hand. 
He is perched upon a tree, on the margin of 
stream; and, unobserved, looks down with a 
fierce, stern glance. The ducks and geese 
pass by, but he makes no movement : they 
are not worthy his notice. He is waiting for 
a richer prize ; and his mate, who occupies 
a branch of a tree on the opposite bank, 
keeps uttering a peculiar call, as if telling 
him to be patient. 
Presently a trumpet-like note is heard, 
and a large white bird comes flying heavily 
along. It is the trumpeter-swan ; so called 
from her peculiar note ; and the female eagle 
sets up a shriek of triumph, while her partner 
opens his wings, ruffles up his feathers, and 
puts himself in an attitude to make an attack. 
The swan seems to suspect some danger. 
She looks about from side to side, and tries to 
hasten her flight. She flaps her large wings, 
but they can hardly support the weight of 
