THE EAGLE. 
Ill 
with a bird in his hand, to entice an Eagle within reach. At 
other times a deer is killed, and a covert made near it, where 
equal patience is displayed, till a successful shot secures the 
prize ; and a prize indeed he is to these Indians, who hold 
him in such veneration, from the qualities they esteem above 
all others amongst their own renowned warriors and chieftains, 
namely, unwearied perseverance, activity, watchfulness, un- 
daunted courage, and, lastly, patience in suffering privations. 
There is something, too, in his appearance, which strikes the 
untutored minds of these savages as denoting superiority over 
all other birds ; his look and movements so dignified, and his 
rapid and downward flight attended with a sound which is 
heard at a considerable distance, and is a signal to all other 
birds to disappear from his presence ; or when floating magni- 
ficently above on his motionless expanded wings, they listen 
to the rattling of his pinions as he now and then shakes his 
quills with a noise which has been compared, by those who 
have heard it, to the fluttering or rustling of a silken flag in 
a gale of wind : accordingly, to his very feathers they attach 
a respect amounting almost to religious veneration. 
There is an instrument called the Calumet, or pipe of peace, 
which is used in their most solemn meetings, when they hold 
councils respecting peace or war; and when offered and 
accepted by contending parties, has the effect of the most 
solemn treaties and oaths of Christian people. This instru- 
ment is, in a part of America called Louisiana, orna- 
mented with the feathers of a particularly beautiful and rare 
species of White Eagle, called the Conciliating Eagle. ^ In 
another part of America, called California, and indeed amongst 
many other tribes of that vast continent, the Indians, when 
in their full dress, wear an Eagle’s feather fastened to the top 
of their heads as a mark of nobility ; and singularly enough a 
similar custom prevailed, and, on occasions of ceremony still 
prevails, amongst the Highland chiefs of Scotland, handed 
down from time immemorial : the plume of the Erne, or 
great Sea Eagle, f being the distinguishing mark of the head 
* Falco conciliator. 
t Falco albicilla. 
