424 
RURAL HOURS. 
head- waters ; but here, one of their nests is a rarity, while on the 
coast, Mr. Wilson once counted twenty within a mile. 
The Bald Eagles build their nest in a tall tree, perhaps a pine, 
or farther south, it may be a cypress. They first lay a sort of 
floor of large sticks several feet in length ; over this are placed 
sods of earth, hay, moss, sedge-grass, pine-tops, &c., &c. This 
eyry continues to be used as long as the tree lasts, and when their 
old homestead has been destroyed, they will often take possession 
of an adjoining tree, rather than abandon the neighborhood. They 
resort to their nest constantly as a dwelling, at all times, repairing 
it when necessary, until the pile rises to the height of five or six 
feet, with a breadth of four or five feet. The mother-bird begins 
to lay in February ; and it is said that while the first brood is half 
fledged, she lays other eggs, which the young birds help to hatch 
by their warmth. Whether this is really true or not, one cannot 
say. 
Besides fish, these Eagles prey upon ducks, geese, gulls, and 
all kinds of water-fowls ; at times, they feed upon lambs, pigs, 
fawns, and even deer. Mr. Audubon gives a very spirited ac- 
count of their hunting the wild swan, the male and female in com- 
pany. Two instances are recorded in which infants have been 
seized by these powerful birds, one occurring in Georgia, and 
given by Mr. Nuttall, the other happening in New Jersey, and 
related by Mr. Wilson. In the first instance, the child is said to 
have been carried five miles, to the eyry of the bird ; it was im- 
mediately followed, but the poor creature was already dead. In 
the last case, the child was seized as it was playing by its moth- 
er's side, while she was weeding in her garden ; a sudden rushing 
sound, and a scream from the child, alarmed the woman : she 
