228 
OUR HOME BIRDS. 
ping them, when half fledged, from her wings, and 
that when the breeze is proving too strong for them, 
and their little pinions begin to flag and waver amid 
the resistance of the air, she swoops underneath 
them, having indeed never lost sight of them for an 
instant, and receives them again upon her own 
person, and sails on with them majestically as before. 
How beautifully this expresses God’s loving care 
for us ! 
“ The voice of the eagle is a rough, sharp, ear- 
piercing cry, well calculated to strike terror into the 
hearts of smaller birds, and suited to the wild scenery 
amid which it loves to dwell. It is said to live sixty, 
eighty, and even one hundred years. 
“ This destructive bird carries off immense quanti- 
ties of hares, rabbits, and grouse to feed its young, 
and even foxes and lambs have been seen in its 
larder. The eagle, however, does not always reap 
the reward of its industry ; and one which built its 
nest within the reach of man used to act as an invol- 
untary purveyor to a neighboring family. The bird, 
for example, would bring home a hare, put it in the 
nest, and go off for another. Then a man would 
come and take away the hare. The eagle, on com- 
ing home, deposits some other animal, and finding, 
as he supposes, that the young ones have already fin- 
ished the hare, goes away again in search of more 
