THE BIRD OF WASHINGTON. 
261 
the fullness of the plumage affording them a double 
chance of escaping uninjured. Their flight is slow, 
steady, and particularly graceful, gliding along with 
scarcely any apparent motion of the wings, the tips of 
which are curved upwards in flying. They are seen 
in greatest numbers, and soar highest, before hurricanes 
or thunder-storms. Their quills are used by the hunters 
as tubes for tobacco-pipes.” 
GENUS U. — FALCO. 
3. FALCO WASHINGTON!!. THE BIRD OF WASHINGTON. 
AUDUBON, PLATE IX. MALE. 
Of this magnificent bird, Audubon, in his Orni- 
thological Biography , gives the following animated 
account : — 
“ It was in the month of February, 1814, that I 
obtained the first sight of this noble bird, and never 
shall I forget the delight which it gave me. Not even 
Herschel, when he discovered the planet which bears 
his name, could have experienced more rapturous feel- 
ings. We were on a trading voyage, ascending the 
Upper Mississippi. The keen wintry blasts whistled 
around us, and the cold from which I suffered, had, in 
a great degree, extinguished the deep interest which, at 
other seasons, this magnificent river has been wont to 
awake in me. I lay stretched beside our patroon. The 
safety of the cargo was forgotten, and the only thing 
that called my attention was the multitude of ducks, of 
different species, accompanied by vast flocks of swans, 
which from time to time passed us. My patroon, a 
Canadian, had been engaged many years in the fur 
trade. He was a man of much intelligence ; and, 
perceiving that these birds had engaged my curiosity, 
seemed anxious to find some new object to divert me. 
An eagle flew over us. ‘ How fortunate ! ’ he exclaimed ; 
c this is what I could have wished. Look, sir ! the 
great eagle, and the only one I have seen since I left 
the lakes.’ I was instantly on my feet, and, having 
observed it attentively, concluded, as I lost it in the 
