BALD EAGLE. 
23 
The celebrated Cataract of Niagara is a noted place of 
resort for the bald eagle, as well on account of the fish 
procured there, as for the numerous carcasses of squirrels, 
deer, bears, and various other animals, that, in their 
attempts to cross the river above the Falls, have been 
dragged into the current, and precipitated down that 
tremendous gulf, where, among the rocks that bound the 
Rapids below, they furnish a rich repast for the vulture, 
the raven, and the bald eagle, the subject of the present 
account. He has been long known to naturalists, being 
common to both continents, and occasionally met with 
from a very high northern latitude, to the borders of 
the torrid zone, but chiefly in the vicinity of the sea, and 
along the shores and cliffs of our lakes and large rivers. 
Formed by nature for braving the severest cold; feeding 
equally on the produce of the sea, and of the land; 
possessing powers of flight capable of outstripping even 
the tempests themselves ; unawed by any thing but man ; 
and, from the ethereal heights to which he soars, looking 
abroad, at one glance, on an immeasurable expanse of 
forests, fields, lakes, and ocean, deep below him, he 
appears indifferent to the little localities of change of 
seasons ; as, in a few minutes, he can pass from summer 
to winter, from the lower to the higher regions of the 
atmosphere, the abode of eternal cold, and from thence 
descend, at will, to the torrid, or the arctic regions of 
the earth. He is, therefore, found at all seasons, in the 
countries he inhabits ; but prefers such places as have 
been mentioned above, from the great partiality he has 
for fish. 
In procuring these, he displays, in a very singular 
manner, the genius and energy of his character, which 
is fierce, contemplative, daring, and tyrannical ; attributes 
not exerted but on particular occasions, but, when put 
forth, overpowering all opposition. Elevated on the 
high dead limb of some gigantic tree that commands a 
wide view of the neighbouring shore and ocean, he 
seems calmly to contemplate the motions of the various 
feathered tribes that pursue their busy avocations below ; 
the snow-white gulls slowly winnowing the air; the 
