THE EAGLE. 
133 
Haying eaten voraciously, it becomes stupified, and 
unwilling or unable to fly at once upwards, and 
consequently walks slowly and leisurely out at the 
opening left for it ; and the cord with its noose being 
fitly contrived, and well placed for the purpose, 
catches hold of and strangles it. 
In North America, they are much sought after 
and prized by the Indians, who are constantly on 
the look-out for them. Sometimes a hole is dug 
and slightly covered, and there, in a manner buried, 
a hunter will patiently watch, day after day, 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 vene- 
ration, from the qualities they esteem above all 
others amongst their own renowned warriors and 
chieftains, namely, unwearied perseverance, activity, 
watchfulness, undaunted 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 magnificently 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 
