24 
FALCO LEUCOCEPIIALUS. 
busy ti'inffse coursing alon^ the sands ; trains of ducks 
streaminfi- over the surface ; silent and watchful craneSj 
intent and wading- ; clamorous crows ; and all the winged 
multitudes that subsist l)y the bounty of this vast liquid 
magazine of nature. High over all these hovers onCi 
whose action instantly arrests his whole attent ion. By h'* 
wide curvature of wing, and sudden suspeusiou in aif> 
he knon s him to he the fish han k, settling over som* 
devoted victim of the deep. His eye kindles at the 
sight, and, balancing himself, with half opened wing^> 
on the branch, he n-at(dies the result. Down, rapid S’ 
an arrow from heaven, descends the distant object o* 
his attention, the roar of its wings reaching the car 
it disappeai-s in the deep, making the surges foa® 
around ! At this moment, the eager looks of the eagh- 
are all ardour; and, levelling his neck for flight, be 
sees the fish haivk once more emerge, struggling with 
his prey, and mounting in the air with screams o' 
exultation. These are the signal for our hero, whOi 
lauching into the air, instantly gives chase, and sooi' 
gains on the fish hawk ; each exerts his utmost to mouul 
above the other, displaying in these rencontres the most 
elegant and sublime aerial evolutions. The uneucuni' 
bered eagle rapidly advances, and is just on the point ol 
reaching his o])j)oneut, nhen, nith a sudden screaiU) 
probably of despair and honest execration, the lattef 
drops his fish : the eagle, poising himself for a moment, 
as if to take a more cert.aiu aim, descends like a whirl' 
wind, snatches it in his grasp ere it reaches the ivatef, 
and boars his ill-gotten booty silently away to the 
woods. 
These predatory attacks and defensive manoeuvr'’* 
of the eagle and the fish hawk, are matters of daily 
observation along the whole of o>ir sea board, fi-oi" 
Georgia to New England, and frequently e.xcite g''*’'?^ 
interest in the spectators. Symjtathv, however, on th'* 
as on most other occasions, generally sides n ith the 
honest .and laborious sufferer, in opposition to the attack® 
of power, injustice, and rapacity, qualities for whick 
our hero is so generally notorious, and which, in 1"» 
