WASHINGTON SEA-EAGLE. 55 
of the Eagle. We had plainly seen her bearing it in the manner of 
the Fish Hawk. 
This day's sport being at an end, as we journeyed homewards, we agreed 
to return the next morning, with the view of obtaining both the old and 
young birds ; but rainy and tempestuous weather setting in, it became 
necessary to defer the expedition till the third day following, when, with 
guns and men all in readiness, we reached the rock. Some posted them- 
selves at the foot, others upon it, but in vain. We passed the entire day, 
without either seeing or hearing an Eagle, the sagacious birds, no doubt, 
having anticipated an invasion, and removed their young to new quarters. 
I come at last to the day which I had so often and so ardently desired. 
Two years had gone by since the discovery of the nest, in fruitless excur- 
sions ; but my wishes were no longer to remain ungratified. In returning 
from the little village of Henderson, to the house of Dr. Rankin, about a 
mile distant, I saw an Eagle rise from a small enclosure not a hundred 
yards before me, where the Doctor had a few days before slaughtered some 
hogs, and alight upon a low tree branching- over the road. I prepared my 
double-barrelled piece, which I constantly carry, and went slowly and 
cautiously towards him. Quite fearlessly he awaited my approach, looking 
upon me with undaunted eye. I fired and he fell. Before I reached him 
he was dead. With what delight did I survey the magnificent bird ! Had 
the finest salmon ever pleased him as he did me? — Never. I ran and pre- 
sented him to my friend, with a pride which they alone can feel, who, like 
me, have devoted themselves from their earliest childhood to such pursuits, 
and who have derived from them their first pleasures. To others I must 
seem to “ prattle out of fashion." The Doctor, who was an experienced 
hunter, examined the bird with much satisfaction, and frankly acknow- 
ledged he had never before seen or heard of it. 
The name which I have chosen for this new species of Eagle, “ The Bird 
of Washington," may, by some, be considered as preposterous and unfit; 
but as it is indisputably the noblest bird of its genus that has yet been 
discovered in the United States, I trust I shall be allowed to honour it 
with the name of one yet nobler, who was the saviour of his country, and 
whose name will ever be dear to it. To those who may be curious to know 
my reasons, I can only say, that, as the new world gave me birth and liberty, 
the great man who ensured its independence is next to my heart. He had 
a nobility of mind, and a generosity of soul, such as are seldom possessed. 
He was brave, so is the Eagle ; like it, too, he was the terror of his foes ; 
and his fame, extending from pole to pole, resembles the majestic soarings 
of the mightiest of the feathered tribe. If America has reason to be proud 
of her Washington, so has she to be proud of her great Eagle.” 
