BALD EAGLE. 
23 
cliffs, as the only secure situation that probably offers, in the 
United States he usually selects, near the sea-coast, some lofty 
pine or cypress tree for his eyry ; this is built of large sticks, 
several feet in length, forming a floor, within and over which 
are laid sods of earth, hay, moss, dry reeds, sedge-grass, pine- 
tops, and other coarse materials, piled after several incubations 
to the height of 5 or 6 feet, and 4 or 5 feet in breadth. On 
this almost level bed the female early in February deposits two 
dull white eggs, one of which is said sometimes to be laid after 
an interval so considerable that the young are hatched at dif- 
ferent periods. Lawson, however, says that they breed so 
often as to commence laymg again under their callow young, 
whose warmth assists the hatching of the eggs. This eyrj' or 
breeding-place continues to be perpetually occupied and re- 
paired as long as the tree endures, — indeed their attachment 
to particular places is so strong that after their habitation has 
been demolished, by the destruction of the tree that supported 
it, they have very contentedly taken possession of an adjoin- 
ing one. Nor is the period of incubation the only time spent 
in the nest by this species ; it is a shelter and common habi- 
tation at all times and seasons, being a home like the hut to 
the savage, or the cottage to the peasant. 
The helpless young, as might be supposed, are fed with 
great attention, and supplied with such a superfluity of fish 
and other matters that they often lie scattered around the 
tree, producing the most putrid and noisome effluvia. The 
young are at first clothed with a whitish down ; they gradually 
become gray, and continue of a brownish gray until the third 
year, when the characteristic white of the head and tail be- 
comes perfectly developed. As their food is abundant, the 
young are not forcibly driven from the nest, but fed for some 
time after they have left it. They are by no means shy or 
timorous, will often permit a near approach, and sometimes 
even bristle up their feathers in an attitude of daring de- 
fence. Their cry is sonorous and lamentable, like that of the 
Great Eagle, and when asleep they are said to make a very 
audible snoring sound. 
