i6 
BIRDS OF PREY. 
tree, as was the one described by Willughby in the Peak of 
Derbyshire. About thirty miles inland from the Mandan Fort 
on the Missouri I once had occasion to observe the eyry of 
this noble bird, which here consisted of but a slender lining of 
sticks conveyed into a rocky chasm on the face of a lofty hill 
rising out of the grassy, open plain. It contained one young 
bird, nearly fledged, and almost of the color of the Gyrfalcon. 
Near their rocky nests they are seen usually in pairs, at times 
majestically soaring to a vast height and gazing on the sun, 
towards which they ascend until they disappear from view. 
From this sublime elevation they often select their devoted 
prey, — sometimes a kid or a lamb from the sporting flock, or 
the timid rabbit or hare crouched in the furrow or sheltered in 
some bush. The largest birds are also frequently their victims ; 
and in extreme want they will not refuse to join with the 
alarmed Vulture in his cadaverous repast. After this gorging 
meal the Eagle can, if necessary, fast for several days. The 
precarious nature of his subsistence and the violence by which 
it is constantly obtained seem to produce a moral effect on 
the disposition of this rapacious bird : though in pairs, they are 
never seen associated with their young; their offspring arc 
driven forth to lead the same unsocial, wandering life as their 
unfeeling progenitors. This harsh and tyrannical disposition is 
strongly displayed even when they lead a life of restraint and 
confinement. The weaker bird is never willingly suffered to 
eat a single morsel ; and though he may cower and quail under 
the blow with the most abject submission, the same savage 
deportment continues towards him as long as he exists. Those 
which I have seen in confinement frequently uttered hoarse 
and stridulous cries, sometimes almost barkings, accompanied 
by vaporous breathings, strongly expressive of their ardent, 
unquenchable, and savage appetites. Their fire-darting eyes, 
lowering brows, flat foreheads, restless disposition, and terrific 
plaints, together with their powerful natural weapons, seem to 
assimilate them to the tiger rather than the timorous bird. Yet 
it would appear that they may be rendered docile, as the Tar- 
tars (according to Marco Polo in 1269) were said to train 
