326 
The Bald Eagle 
swam under water, but the eagle was ever on the watch, and in the end 
they went away through the air together. 
That the most expert of diving birds cannot always escape was sug- 
gested by my finding a Pied-billed Grebe in a Bald Eagle’s nest on one 
occasion; but it is just possible that the grebe had been picked up dead, 
for eagles are not averse to eating carrion. 
Thus I once found two of them feeding on the carcass of a dead horse 
in company with a flock of vultures, and on another occasion discovered 
four Bald Eagles eating some dead rays that fishermen 
had left on the beach. The old story that they some- 
times carry ofif children must be dismissed with the 
statement that it is highly improbable — for one reason, because babies 
small enough to be carried by an eagle are not usually left unguarded in 
situations likely to be visited by these birds. I have never known them to 
attack domestic animals other than lambs, but C. J. Maynard says : 
Habits of a 
Vulture 
While encamped on a small island in the Gulf of Mexico, near the 
mouth of the Suwannee River, I heard one morning a loud squealing 
among the half-wild hogs, of which there were an abundance in the place. 
I found that three eagles were attacking the newly born progeny of an 
old hog, and she was endeavoring to defend them. The little grunters, 
of which there were several, had taken refuge under the top of a fallen 
tree, which, however, afforded them only partial protection; thus the 
eagles could see them, and, tempted by the dainty titbits, would swoop 
downward and endeavor to grasp the little black-and-white pigs in their 
talons, but were constantly repulsed by the anxious mother, who bravely 
defended her offspring, at the same time giving vent to some of the most 
ear-splitting squeals that ever a distressed hog uttered. I do not know 
how the strife would have ended, had I not interfered. 
Bald Eagles probably like fish better than any other food, for they 
seem always to be more abundant where the supply of fish is large. A 
dead fish is of course easy to secure, but many times I have seen them 
fly down and capture living ones. At least three-fourths of such at- 
tempts were fruitless, for this eagle does not seem to possess the same 
skill in this direction that is enjoyed by its somewhat 
The Unlucky ^lore agile neighbor, the Osprey. The eagle is very 
shrewd, however, and, having no inconvenient scruples 
whatever as to the methods that may be employed in getting food, it 
does not hesitate in the least to take the Osprey’s prey away from it. 
One of the most thrilling sights of the wilderness is to witness such an 
occurrence. An Osprey laden with its fish cannot possibly out-fly a 
healthy Bald Eagle, although when pursued it certainly does its best to 
escape. No matter how hard it tries to get away, the result is usually the 
same. The eagle gives hot chase, and, soon rising above the Eish Hawk, 
strikes downward at the smaller bird, which has been rising higher ever 
since it has discovered that it is being followed. Usually one stroke by 
the eagle is enough, but sometimes half a dozen are necessary before the 
