<h2><SPAN name="THE_EAGLE" id="THE_EAGLE"></SPAN>THE EAGLE.</h2>
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<div class="verse">Bird of the broad and sweeping wing,</div>
<div class="verse indent-1_5">Thy home is high in heaven,</div>
<div class="verse">Where wide the storms their banners fling,</div>
<div class="verse indent-1_5">And the tempest clouds are driven.</div>
<div class="verse ar">—<i>Percival.</i></div>
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<p>THE bald eagle became the bird
of our nation in the year 1873.
It is at home in all parts
of North America. Its nest in
the top of a lofty tree is a common
landmark in Maine, and on the great
mountain peaks of the western states
the nest is usually placed upon the
rock where no man nor beast is able to
climb.</p>
<p>The American eagle lives in America
only, but an eagle living in the Old
World looks very much like it. The
American bird is larger than the one
found in Europe. It is believed that
the bird of our country sometimes
visits Europe, for an eagle is seen
there at times that seems to be our own
bald eagle.</p>
<p>The birds that have beaks and claws
like those of the eagle are very
much like the cat family upon the
ground. They are all fierce hunters
and live upon weaker animals and
birds. The greatest of all the cat family
is the lion, the king of beasts. The
greatest of the cats of the air is the
eagle, and he is called the king of
birds.</p>
<p>As the cats have claws and teeth for
catching and tearing their prey so the
eagles have beaks and talons which
are strong and sharp. The cats come
quickly upon their prey without the
least noise. So do the eagles. They
come down from the sky like lightning
and nothing is swift enough to get
away, unless it is warned of the eagle's
coming.</p>
<p>An eagle sometimes lives to be over
one hundred years old. Many years
ago it was said that an eagle never
dies of sickness nor of old age, but that
its beak grows out of shape in its last
years so that it cannot eat.</p>
<p>All people have admired the eagle.
The Indians of America have always
liked to wear the feathers of the king
of birds, and in Scotland the chief was
known by the feather of an eagle
which he wore in his bonnet.</p>
<p>It often happens that a young eagle
looks much larger than its father or
mother. This is because the first feathers
of the wings and tail are longer than
the ones that grow in their place when
the young eagle has once shed them.
The young eagle is also darker than
the old one. This is why some people
have made mistakes in writing about
them without knowing a young eagle
from an old one.</p>
<p>Eagles of the same kind are not
always of the same color. Some are
darker than others and the markings
are not alike. Some young eagles
shed their downy feathers early and
wear the dress of grown-up birds.
Others keep some or all of their baby
feathers five or six years. And there
are some very old eagles still wearing
some of the downy feathers of their
first dresses.</p>
<p>Eagles kept in cages lose some of
their fierce ways and change the colors
of their dress. But they do not forget
that they are eagles. A large cat
once went under the bars of an eagle's
cage to get the meat which had not
been eaten by the bird. Down came
the eagle, tore the cat to pieces, and
ate him in a hurry.</p>
<p>The bald eagle is very fond of fish.
I have seen him on a bright day sailing
high above a lake where I was fishing.
He was so slow and lazy that I did not
think he was fishing too. But when he
saw a fine large fish near the top of
the water he came down like a flash,
struck his claws into the fish, and flew
away to his mate in a tree upon the land.</p>
<p>Sometimes the eagle gets the fish
hawk to do the work for him. Waiting
on the branch of some tree upon
the shore he sees the fish hawk flying
about over the water looking for his
prey. As soon as a fish has been caught
and the hawk is coming ashore to eat
it, the eagle frightens the hawk so as
to make him drop his fish. Then the
eagle catches it again before it strikes
the water.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</SPAN></span></p>
<p>It is because he is such a robber that
some of the people of America did not
like to have him chosen to be the bird
of our nation. They felt that we ought
to have a bird that is good towards all
the other birds.</p>
<p>A poor family once lived for a long
time by robbing an eagle. The father
climbed to the nest and took away the
meat which the eagle brought for its
young. Every day he got food for his
family from the eagle. When the
young birds were almost ready to fly
he cut the feathers from their wings so
they could not leave the nest. Then
he tied them in to make sure of his
own meat every day. The young ones
cried harder when tied and the old
ones thought they were hungry and
brought them more flesh.</p>
<p>When the young are old enough to
fly the old eagles fly above them as if
to show them how easily it is done. If
the young do not try to fly when the
old ones think it time, they are pushed
out of the nest as if to kill them. But
the young wings flutter so that the bird
does not fall hard, and the old bird flies
under her young one to prevent any harm.</p>
<p>The eye of this bird is so keen that
it can see a small animal much farther
than the animal can see the great bird.
When out of sight in the sky the eagle
can see a hare as it comes out of its
hole. It comes down so fast that it
sometimes catches the hare before it
can get back to a safe place.</p>
<p>When the sky is clear the eagle flies
very high, but on cloudy days he keeps
nearer the ground. He likes to fly
over waterfalls because fish are to be
caught as they pass over the falls. At
Niagara Falls eagles are often seen
because animals are sometimes carried
over the falls by the rushing water, and
the birds can get them easily.</p>
<p>The eagle likes to face the sun and
fly towards it as if he thought he could
reach it. For a long time people wondered
how he could face the sun so
without being made blind. But we
know now that he has a covering for
his eyes that keeps them from all harm
from the strong light. If you watch a
chicken you may see it has two eyelids
for each eye. So has the eagle. The
eagle has a sort of eyebrow of feathers
that may help protect his eyes from
the strong light.</p>
<p>While the eagle is graceful in flying
he is not at all so in walking. Few
birds are so awkward on their feet.
His great claws are made for catching
his prey rather than for walking. He
can tear things with them and use them
in fighting, but he has not much use for
them upon the ground.</p>
<p>When they cannot get the food that
suits them best eagles will sometimes
steal farm animals. Lambs, or even full-grown
sheep are easily carried away.
They have been known to attack children
and carry them off. But they do
not often do this, and they have been
known to carry them a little way and
then set them down again as if the load
were too great or they did not wish to
eat them.</p>
<p>A story is told of a man who lived a
long time ago, and who had but one
child, a little girl. He wished to adopt
a poor little baby boy, but his wife did
not wish to take care of the boy. He
had the baby carried to the top of a
tree in which was the nest of an eagle.
The baby was placed in the nest so he
could not fall, and the man and his
wife walked under the tree. The child
cried so that the lady heard him. She
supposed it had been carried there by
the bird. Great haste was made to get
the baby down, and the lady was so
pleased to think she had saved the
child from being eaten by the birds
that she kept the little one as her own
son.</p>
<p>Eagles hunt in pairs. One flies
about near the ground to scare the
game from the bushes and trees, while
the other keeps watch from above to
swoop down on the first thing that
comes in sight. While their young
ones are in the nest the old birds are
very active. They are fierce if anyone
comes near the young.</p>
<p>Sometimes they show as much cunning
in taking their prey as any of the
cat family. In flying down to catch
animals upon the ground they take
care to fly so that their shadow will
not frighten their prey. An eagle
has been known to destroy an animal
too large to be picked up by flying at
the animal fiercely as it stood upon the
edge of a steep place. The wings of
the bird frightened the animal so as to
drive it over the cliff to meet death
upon the rocks below.</p>
<p>(<i>Continued on <SPAN href="#Page_36">page 36</SPAN>.</i>)</p>
<hr class="chap" />
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</SPAN></span></p>
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