WHITE-HEADED OR BALD EAGLE. 
59 
It does not confine itself to these kinds of food, but greedily devours 
young pigs, lambs, fawns, poultry, and the putrid flesh of carcasses of every 
description, driving off the Vultures and Carrion Crows, or the dogs, and 
keeping a whole party at defiance until it is satiated. It frequently gives 
chase to the Vultures, and forces them to disgorge the contents of their 
stomachs, when it alights and devours the filthy mass. A ludicrous instance 
of this took place near the city of Natchez, on the Mississippi. Many Vul- 
tures were engaged in devouring the body and entrails of a dead horse, when 
a White-headed Eagle accidentally passing by, the V ultures all took to wing, 
one among the rest with a portion of the entrails partly swallowed, and the 
remaining part, about a yard in length, dangling in the air. The Eagle 
instantly marked him, and gave chase. The poor Vulture tried in vain to 
disgorge, when the Eagle, coming up, seized the loose end of the gut, and 
dragged the bird along for twenty or thirty yards, much against its will, 
until both fell to the ground, when the Eagle struck the Vulture, and in a 
few moments killed it, after which he swallowed the delicious morsel. 
The Bald Eagle has the power of raising from the surface of the water 
any floating object not heavier than itself. In this manner it often robs the 
sportsman of ducks which have been killed by him. Its audacity is quite 
remarkable. While descending the Upper Mississippi, I observed one of 
these Eagles in pursuit of a Green-winged Teal. It came so near our boat, 
although several persons were looking on, that I could perceive the glancings 
of its eye. The Teal, on the point of being caught, when not more than 
fifteen or twenty yards from us, was saved from the grasp of its enemy, one 
of our party having brought the latter down by a shot, which broke one of 
its wings. When taken on board, it was fastened to the deck of our boat by 
means of a string, and was fed by pieces of catfish, some of which it began 
to eat on the third day of its confinement. But, as it became a very dis- 
agreeable and dangerous associate, trying on all occasions to strike at some 
one with its talons, it was killed and thrown overboard. 
When these birds are suddenly and unexpectedly approached or surprised, 
they exhibit a great degree of cowardice. They rise at once and fly off very 
low, in zig-zag lines, to some distance, uttering a hissing noise, not at all 
like their usual disagreeable imitation of a laugh. When not carrying a gun, 
one may easily approach them ; but the use of that instrument being to 
appearance well known to them, they are very cautious in allowing a person 
having one to get near them. Notwithstanding all their caution, however, 
many are shot by approaching them under cover of a tree, on horseback, or 
in a boat. They do not possess the power of smelling gunpowder, as the 
Crow and the Raven are absurdly supposed to do ; nor are they aware of the 
effects of spring-traps, as I have seen some of them caught by these instru- 
