Little Eagle

“ He was a savage-looking bird indeed. He wore for the occasion a large crown of red feathers, and carried in one of his claws an enormous stick covered with rabbit’s fur, which had five large dog teeth at the end of it.
Everything and everybody clapped and bowed and cheered. Dogs wagged tails, chickens cackled, roosters crowed, birds sang, and flowers waved themselves.
The Eagle looked about fiercely, bowed slightly, and seated himself on his throne, which was on a little hill.
The entertainment began with a duet given by a wood thrush and a song sparrow. It was very pretty indeed. ”

“ Thus he stayed until an eagle caught sight of him, pounced right down, and flew off with him to her nest, which was on a huge rock that rose straight up into the cold air and made the summit of a mountain.
When the old eagle plumped the little old man down into the nest, just imagine, if you can, how astonished the eaglets were! They opened their beaks as well as their eyes, and cried out:
"What's this, mother? What is this?"
"Oh! it's only a man," cried the old eagle. ”

“ The strength of the eagle is such that it will bear heavy burdens in its talons for miles until it reaches its nest, where the hungry little ones are eagerly waiting the parent's return. Here, standing on the ledge of rock, the eagle tears the food into morsels, which the eaglets eagerly devour. ”

“ A young fawn not a year old had left its herd and was basking in the light. With a scream of triumph the Golden Eagle swooped down upon the luckless little animal, drove the cruel talons deep into its back, and buffeted its head with his heavy wings. Dazed by the suddenness of the attack and blinded by the blows from the bird’s strong pinions, the poor fawn staggered to the edge of the rock, the eagle released his grip, and his victim fell headlong on to a rock below, striking it with a force that broke its neck and ended its sufferings. ”

“ He couldn’t even find the trail they had left when they wandered away. When the sun was getting low in the western sky, Little Eagle turned back toward camp. On the way back, he wondered what words he would use to tell Angry Wolf so that the other boy would not be too alarmed at the danger of their situation. Little Eagle didn’t try to hide from himself the fact that they were in grave danger. Here in the middle of the prairie, with no horses, they might not be able to get enough game to keep them alive through the winter. ”

“ The Eagle gives the wish to the beasts, instead of the birds and flowers, because nobody ever has anything against the flowers anyway, and they don’t care for new experiences. As for the birds, they have so many chances to travel and do interesting things that His Majesty, [Pg 29] the Eagle, decided to go outside of his own family and give the wish to the four-footers. You see, they get around very little as they have no wings. ”

“ The Old Eagle looks at me as if he would say, ‘Why went not the chief warrior himself?’ I will tell you. The Head Buffalo is a head taller than the tallest man of his tribe. Can the moose crawl into the fox’s hole? Can the swan hide himself under a little leaf? The Young Eagle was little, save in his soul. ”

“ The last cries of grouse and snipe sound hollow and uncanny; the heavy beating of eagle’s wings would cause no surprise. At the approach of human footsteps, sheep glide from the shadows, gather together in little bands, and stampede into the farther darkness. ”

“ Climbing up to the Eagle’s nest she said to the Eagle, “You and I are in the greatest possible danger. That dreadful creature, the Sow, who is always to be seen grubbing away at the foot of the tree, means to uproot it, that she may devour your family and mine at her ease.” Having thus driven the Eagle almost out of her senses with terror, the Cat climbed down the tree, and said to the Sow, “I must warn you against that dreadful bird, the Eagle. She is only waiting her chance to fly down and carry off one of your little pigs when you take them out, to feed her brood with.” ”

“ The White-tailed Eagle builds its nest on high rocks, and lays two eggs, about the same size of those of the Golden Eagle, but with very little or no red color on the white ground. The young are at first covered with a soiled white down, and even at this age the beaks and claws of the eaglets are of very large size. A pair of Golden Eagles have been known to rear their young in the same spot for eight seasons in succession ”

“ These birds live near the sea-shore, and feed upon fish. Their sight is so piercing that they can mark a fish swimming far below them as they hover over the water, and, pouncing down, will strike their strong talons into it, and steer themselves and their prey ashore by their great outspread wings. The African Eagle is said to be very generous in his disposition, and certainly deserves to be called kingly. Although he will not allow any large bird to dwell in peace [11] too near him, yet he never harms the little warblers who flutter round his nest. ”

“ While yet a little child, Red Eagle showed that he had inherited his father's love for horses, and his persistence in riding races, breaking unruly colts, and dashing madly over the roughest country on the back of some one of his father's untamed animals, gave him the finest skill and most consummate grace of a perfect horseman. ”

“ He knocked at the stable door and it opened at once. He threw down the three little bits of bread and a hare came out and ate them. He caught the hare. Then the Eagle told him to pluck three feathers out of its tail, and put in the hare, the stone, the splinters of wood and himself instead of them, and then he would be able to carry them all home.
When the Eagle had flown a long way it alighted on a stone.
'Do you see anything?' it asked.
'Yes; I see a flock of crows coming flying after us,' said the man.
'Then we shall do well to fly on a little farther,' said the Eagle, and off it set. ”

“ Such bright eyes! such charming plumage! such winning little ways! You'll know them now from my description."
A short time after the Eagle found the owlets in a hollow tree.
"These hideous little staring frights, at any rate, cannot be neighbour Owl's delicious pets," said the Eagle; "so I may make away with them without the least misgiving."
The Owl, finding her young ones gone, loaded the Eagle with reproaches.
"Nay," answered the Eagle, "blame yourself rather than me. If you paint with such flattering colours, it is not my fault if I do not recognize your portraits." ”

“ My year in India seemed to cut me off from every one. It's a little
difficult to know where to go. And then, too, there is Daisy."
She paused, and suddenly Grange spoke, with more abruptness than was his wont.
"Why do you think he is sure to seek you out? Did he ever say so?"
She shivered. "No, he never said so. But—but—in a way I feel it. He is so merciless. He always makes me think of an eagle swooping down on its prey. No doubt you think me very fanciful and ridiculous. Perhaps I am. ”

“ It was empty, although we perceived broken egg shells at no great distance, and concluded that the young brood had escaped among the grass, which, in fact, we could see was waving at a little distance, as the little birds ran through it.
"'Now look here, Franz,' said Ernest, presently, 'just consider how this bird could by any possibility have been an eagle. Eagles never build on the ground, neither can their young leave the nest and run as soon as they are out of the egg. ”

“ There were five of them. A Blue Heron for watchfulness; a Crow for good judgment; a Swift for rapid flight; a Night Hawk for keen eyesight; and a little Sparrow for running the errands.
The Eagle talked to them all in a low tone for a few minutes, giving them directions and money for the journey.
Then the dance began, and who do you think [Pg 55] was Ready’s partner this time? Why, the Eagle of course! It is a splendid thing to dance with the King of Birds, and a rare thing for a dog.
It seemed to be dog night, for the Owl, who had not danced for years, stepped out with a dog. ”

“ By my tail, you must be a stranger here,” said the panting, [Pg 28] fat one. Ready afterwards called him “Paf” for short—“P” standing for panting and “F” for fat, you see.
“At midnight on the 21st of June, if it is moonlight, a wonderful thing happens. All the beasts, birds and flowers in this part of the world meet in an open space near the woods. They have music, dancing and refreshments. Then the Eagle, who is the king of the birds, grants a wish to any animal who has a clear record. ”

“ Then the Eagle rapped loudly with his terrible rod and said, “Every one may dance.” And every one did.
The orchestra was made up of thrushes, whippoorwills and woodpeckers. The woodpeckers beat time on the bark of the trees. Sometimes the robins and song sparrows joined. It all sounded very well indeed until some blue jays and roosters started in. Then an old crow [Pg 37] commenced keeping time with his “caw, caw, caw.”
This was too much for the Eagle, who beat angrily on the oak tree with his rod and stopped the dance immediately. “Too much like a jazz band,” he shrieked. ”

“ Nothing fears the little brown boy. The yellow-bird slants his wings, almost touches the deep water before him, and then escapes away under the bridge to the east with a glint of sunshine on his back; the fish-hawk comes down with a swoop, dips one wing, and, his prey having darted under a stone, is away again over the still hill, high soaring on even-poised pinions, keeping an eye perhaps upon the great eagle which is sweeping the sky in widening circles. ”

“ So the Eagle said: “Very well, Ready is before you. Who speaks against him?”
It was very still for a minute. Ready’s heart beat fast as he feared he might have offended a chicken, a cat or something without knowing it, but no one answered and the cheering began.
Then again the Owl stepped forward. “I hate to seem so particular,” he apologized, “but I have just been re-reading the rules of our great gathering. It says:
All animals who are strangers in the neighborhood must be properly introduced and vouched for before any wishes can be granted them. ”

“ The eagle suffers little birds to sing, And is not careful what they mean thereby, Knowing that with the shadow of his wings He can at pleasure stint their melody; ”

“ Where is the sooty sinner? We hear he is on the wing—but he either sees or smells us, probably both, and the horrid gurgle in his throat is choked by some cloud. Surely that was the sughing of wings! A Bird! alighting within fifty yards of us—and, from his mode of folding his wings—an Eagle! This is too much—within fifty yards of an Eagle on his own mountain-top. Is he blind? Age darkens even an Eagle's eyes—but he is not old, for his plumage is perfect—and we see the glare of his far-keekers as he turns his head over his shoulder and regards his eyrie on the cliff. ”

“ The Eagle has long been regarded as the King of Birds, just as the lion is spoken of as the King of Beasts. There are some who say that he is not worthy of this honour, but certainly few of his subjects would care to fight him for the crown, for he has a remarkably strong beak, and his feet are armed with the sharpest of claws. Soaring high up in the air, he swoops down on his prey like a thunderbolt from the sky, and carries it off to his nest on some rocky cliff or steep mountain side. Small birds, rabbits, lambs, and fawns all help to fill the Eagle’s larder. ”

“ His tail is a waving plume the equal of which few birds can boast. He hath a bold and glittering eye. Sometimes retreating under the dictates of prudence, as many higher personages have often done and been commended therefor, he is yet the ideal of homely, home-defending courage. Withal, he will upon necessity demean himself to scratch for a brood of chirping orphans, and gather them to his gallant breast because they have no mother. Yet, forsooth, not this illustrious bird, but the eagle—the "American" Eagle—is the emblem of the foster-mother of all the nations. ”

“ Thus the words eagle and falcon convey to the listener the notion of nobility in power, while hawk simply means fierceness, with somewhat of prying, detective skill. Owl provokes in the imagination a rather smiling picture of solemn pretence of wisdom—a reputation, by the way, almost wholly due to the little European screech-owl’s accidental association with Pallas Athene. Swallow suggests spring all over the world; goose and gull connote easy credulity and foolishness; vulture and raven, rapine and cruelty ”

“ A curious little animal with beautiful long-nailed feet and tiny tail, and a fur so exquisitely thick and soft and feathery one quite longed for a collar of it, had not such luck as the eagle, and died before arriving here; but of these various luxuries—for none of these can quite be reckoned among the necessaries of life—it is a little difficult to choose on which to spend one's spare cash. ”

“ When the latter rises from the water, with a fish in its grasp, forth rushes the Eagle in pursuit. He mounts above the Fish-Hawk, and threatens it by actions well understood, when the latter, fearing perhaps that its life is in danger, drops its prey. In an instant, the Eagle, accurately estimating the rapid descent of the fish, closes his wings, follows it with the swiftness of thought, and the next moment grasps it. The prize is carried off in silence to the woods, and assists in feeding the ever-hungry brood of the Eagle. ”

“ The Eagles are widely scattered. They are birds of lofty and powerful, but not rapid flight. From the latter circumstance, they usually prefer to strike their prey on the ground, the weight of their bodies rendering them unfitted for pursuing a flying prey through its quick and tortuous evolutions. They breed in solitude, on the inaccessible crags of precipitous mountains.
The Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos, Linn.) is the noblest species of the whole Family, for size, strength, and courage. ”