THE EAGLE. 
131 
they shine as if covered with a thin coating of clear 
gum. An anecdote is related by Dr. Richardson*, 
who accompanied that enterprising traveller, Sir 
John Franklin, as current on the plains of Saskat- 
chewan in North America, of a half-bred Indian, 
who was vaunting his prowess before a band of his 
countrymen, and wishing to impress them with a 
belief of his supernatural power. In the midst of 
his harangue, an Eagle was observed suspended as it 
were in the air directly over his head ; upon which, 
pointing aloft with his dagger, which glistened 
brightly in the sun, he called upon the royal bird to 
come clown. To his own amazement, no less than 
to the consternation of the surrounding Indians, the 
Eagle seemed to obey the charm, for instantly shoot- 
ing down with the velocity of an arrow, it impaled 
itself on the point of his weapon. 
Fierce and savage as these birds usually are, they, 
notwithstanding, appear in some instances to lay 
aside these habits, and manifest a kind and protect- 
ing disposition, particularly towards little birds : thus 
it has been observed, that an African Eagle ( Falco 
albescens ), though it will suffer no bird of any size 
to come near its haunt, will nevertheless permit 
small ones not only to reside near it, but even to 
perch upon its nest without offering them any 
violence, and still more, will protect them against 
the attack of other rapacious birds which might be 
disposed to devour them. 
However cunning and sagacious we have seen 
them to be in their modes of providing for their own 
wants, and entrapping other birds and animals, they 
* Richardson’s Fauna Americana. 
