178 
INSESSORES. 
good reason for our following its example in idly 
watching the labors of the poor slave, and then rob- 
bing him of a part of the fruits of his toil. 
The most noble representatives of this family are 
the Golden Eagle and the Washington Eagle, both 
natives of America, and the former of many parts 
of Europe and Asia. 
The Golden Eagle is a large and powerful bird, 
noble and majestic in appearance. Its food consists 
principally of lambs, fawns, rabbits, turkeys, ducks, 
and other large birds. In capturing its prey it does 
not manifest the same agility as the Bald Eagle in 
pursuing and seizing it upon the wing, but it is 
obliged to descend from a considerable height upon 
it to insure success. The keenness of its vision, 
however, enables it to discern at a great distance the 
objects of its desire, upon which it generally falls 
with the swuftness of a meteor, and with an unerring 
and deadly aim. The feathers of this Eagle are 
much sought after by the Indians of North America, 
as an ornament of their dress ; and so highly are they 
prized, that it is said a warrior will often exchange a 
valuable horse for the tail feathers of a single bird.* 
* Eagles being possessed of both strength and courage, 
will, under some circumstances, especially when pressed by 
hunger, openly attack the human species ; and numerous 
well-authenticated accounts are on record of young chil- 
dren having been carried away and devoured by them. 
Bishop Heber, in his travels in India, passed through a 
mountainous district where sad complaints were made of 
their carrying off infant children ; and some years ago a 
traveller in the Alps observed suspended from a jutting crag 
