White-headed eagle

“ Their sight, although probably as perfect as that of any bird, is much affected during a fall of snow, at which time they may be approached without difficulty.
The White-headed Eagle seldom appears in very mountainous districts, but prefers the low lands of the sea-shores, those of our large lakes, and the borders of rivers. It is a constant resident in the United States, in every part of which it is to be seen. The roosts and breeding places of pigeons are resorted to by it, for the purpose of picking up the young birds that happen to fall, or the old ones when wounded. ”

“ The white-headed eagle, the most powerful and the best provided of the birds, ordinarily builds its nest on the sides of barrancas, at the top of the loftiest trees, and chiefly those denuded of branches to a considerable height, but they are never found on rocks. ”

“ I regret to say this eagle is not the genuine American screamer, which so grandly spreads its wings upon the daddy's dollar, but is the great white-headed fish-hawk. He is easily mistaken for the bald eagle, but is smaller and a somewhat sociable bird, building his home near by those of others of his species. The true eagle is sullen and solitary, and chooses his eyrie many miles removed from his fellows. ”

“ The great strength, daring, and cool courage of the White-headed Eagle, joined to his unequalled power of flight, render him highly conspicuous among his brethren. To these qualities did he add a generous disposition towards others, he might be looked up to as a model of nobility. The ferocious, overbearing, and tyrannical temper which is ever and anon displaying itself in his actions, is, nevertheless, best adapted to his state, and was wisely given him by the Creator to enable him to perform the office assigned to him. ”

“ The Golden Eagle, and the White-headed Eagle, are comparatively insignificant; and if its habits correspond to its powerful organization, as may safely be presumed, it is one of the most destructive of the rapacious birds. ”

“ This bird makes more copious use of that substance than the White-headed Eagle, or any of the tribe to which it belongs, excepting the Fish-hawk, the whole plumage looking, upon close examination, as if it had received a general coating of a thin clear dilution of gum-arabic, and presenting less of the downy gloss exhibited in the upper part of the White-headed Eagle's plumage. The male bird weighs 141⁄2 lb. ”

“ They commence making fresh additions to their nest early in the year; and the female deposits her eggs in January, and hatches the young by the middle of the following month. Robbers as they are, the white-headed eagles exhibit great parental affection, tending their young as long as they are helpless and unfledged; nor will they forsake them even should the tree in which their nest is built be surrounded by flames. Wilson, the American naturalist, mentions seeing a tree cut down in order to obtain an eagle’s nest. ”

“ I mentioned the circumstance to my companions, when one of them, who lived within a mile and a half of the place, told me it was from the nest of the Brown Eagle, meaning the White-headed Eagle (Falco leucocephalus) in its immature state. I assured him this could not be, and remarked that neither the old nor the young birds of that species ever build in such places, but always in trees. Although he could not answer my objection, he stoutly maintained that a brown eagle of some kind, above the usual size, had built there ”

“ This bird, known also as the White-tailed Eagle, from the inside feathers of its tail being white, differs from the golden eagle in the greater length of its beak, in its sluggish and cowardly habits, and in its coarser taste. It is a native of Great Britain, where it inhabits the high rocks and cliffs that overhang the sea, and whence it pounces on the birds, fish, or seals that it can procure for its prey. It is smaller than the golden eagle, rarely reaching three feet in length; and in young birds the tail feathers are brown.{189}
THE WHITE-HEADED, OR BALD EAGLE.
(Haliaëtus leucocephalus.) ”

“ How feeble and ludicrous are the voices of the fierce hawks and eagles. The white-headed sea-eagle's puking discordant twang, the feeble cheep of the grey falcon—the cry of a sick and scared chicken—the harsh protest of the osprey, are sounds distinctive but frail, conveying no notion whatever of the demeanour and characteristics of the birds. ”

“ The adults have the body brownish, becoming darker with age; the feathers of the head and neck pointed, and of a golden-red hue. This species is found all over the northern hemisphere. It was once common in the Highlands of Scotland, but is now becoming rare. The Kirghis and other tribes of Central Asia use the golden eagle to kill antelopes, foxes, and even wolves. Another British eagle is the erne or sea-eagle (Haliaëtus albicilla) found near the sea-coast or lakes, and feeding largely on fish. The general colour is greyish-brown, the head pale-coloured, the tail white. ”

“ The largest eagle we have in Great Britain is the erne or white-tailed eagle—the sea-eagle. Not that it fishes for its food; indeed, it seldom eats fish unless it happens to rob another bird. But it levies toll upon the sea-birds themselves, harrying the guillemot and puffin, and making them its prey. ”

“ The bald eagle is the symbol of the United States; and its cousin, the white-tailed, is to be seen along all the coasts of the Old World except the arctic. The American eagle frequents the shores of both oceans, and of our great lakes and rivers, because its favorite food is fish, which it obtains mainly by robbing the industrious fish-hawks. ”

“ If they have eyes to distinguish between the flutter of wings and loose hanging mosses, they may behold, at evening, the national bald-eagle soaring among his native cliffs, and winging to his perch on the far-up old hemlock, where they may see his reverend white head gleaming like a snow-flake among the leaves, until the wail of the whippoorwill calls the shadows of night over the whole mountain. ”

“ Eagles, fish-hawks, and ospreys soar above the forest, building their nests upon the summits of the crags and pinnacles in the wildest and most inaccessible places. It is always an impressive sight to see that magnificent bird, the bald-headed eagle, flying high over the lakes, crossing and recrossing the wooded continental watershed, equally at home among the sources of the Mississippi and Columbia, undisturbed by his only really dangerous enemy, rifle-bearing man. ”

“ The harrier-eagle is an Old-World bird represented in Europe, north Africa, and western Asia. The fishing eagle or fish-hawk is an almost cosmopolitan bird, with markedly piscivorous diet. The bald eagle has the tarsus feathered only halfway to toes; with white head and tail after third year. Its length is about 36 inches. The bald eagle is the emblem of the United States, feeds on fish, sometimes secured by robbing the osprey and sometimes found as carrion. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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.
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.
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. ”

“ Of eagles there are several species. One of them, called 'the white-tailed eagle', is found on low lands, in groves, and in the neighbourhood of cities; some call it the 'heron-killer'. It is bold enough to fly to mountains and the interior of forests. The other eagles seldom visit groves or low-lying land. There is another species called the 'plangus' ”

“ This last character distinguishes them at once from their nearest allies—the sea-eagles of the genus Haliaëtus. Nine species of true eagles are well distinguished, although in this, as in allied genera, much confusion has arisen from the diversity of plumage at different ages. Only one of them occurs in North America. This is the golden eagle (Aquila chrysaëtus) , of which the ‘ring-tailed’ eagle is the young. It is 30 to 35 inches in length, and 61⁄2 to 7 feet in spread of wing; the female is rather larger than the male. ”

“ Five eagle plumes are attached to the cloud backs (eagles live with the clouds) ; the body is surrounded with sunlight; the lines of red and blue which border the bunch upon the back denote sunbeams penetrating storm clouds. The black circle zigzagged with white around the head is a cloud basket filled with corn and seeds of grass. On either side of the head are five feathers of the red shafted flicker (Colaptes cafer) ; a fox skin is attached to the right side of the throat; the mountain sheep horns are tipped with the under tail feathers of the eagle, tied on with cotton cord. ”

“ It is high time that some nation should ascend to a level from which it may look down on the savage emblems and beast-born symbolism of the past world as no longer fit to express the central purposes and noblest visions of an enlightened people.
The American eagle in the better and more glorious sense—in the sense in which he typifies freedom and height and flight—is a totem of which neither philosopher nor peasant need be ashamed. The eagle’s wing is more than pinion; it is thought. The eagle’s eye is more than fierce disdain ”

“ The joyous swallows climb high into the illuminated air till the eye, daunted by the glow, can scarce detect their white breasts as they turn. Slant shadows from the western side give but a margin of contrast; the rays are reflected through them, and they are only shadows of shadows. At the edges their faint sloping lines are seen in the air, where a million motes impart a fleeting solidity to the atmosphere. A pink-painted front, the golden eagle of the great West, golden lettering, every chance strip and speck of colour is washed in the dazzling light, made clear and evident. ”

“ 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.
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. ”

“ The golden eagle is no longer found in England, but is still plentiful in the Scottish Highlands, where it makes its nest on some lofty ledge of rock among the mountain solitudes. Swiss naturalists state that it sometimes nests in the lofty crotch of some gigantic oak growing on the lower mountain slopes, but Audubon and other eminent ornithologists declare that an eagle's nest built in a tree has never come under their observation. ”

“ This species is very dark in hue, and is known in Scotland as the ‘black eagle.’ The colour is a very deep brown, the feathers of the head and nape tinged with reddish gold—hence its name of golden eagle. It preys on hares, rabbits, grouse, ptarmigan, and other birds, and occasionally destroys lambs and fawns, and will even attack full-grown ewes and deer. ”

“ The weapon of death is not the beak, but either the wing or the claws; a flap of the wing or a clutch of the talons is usually enough for the purpose. The eagle kills and eats birds that are smaller and weaker than himself, he lives upon the best of the game, and he drags the best of the fish out of the river or the sea. He carries off the farmer's poultry, and often also young pigs or lambs; sometimes, it is said, he has carried off to his nest even a little boy or girl.
The eagle's nest, or eyrie, is high up on the ledge of some precipice, where hardly any enemy can come. ”

“ Away up on the apex of the first tall spire of stone that has broken away from the cañon walls of Gardiner River, is seen an eagle’s nest, an aerie so lofty that the clouds play about it; so far-reaching skyward that it is tipped with the waking beams of sunlight before day, and is bright with lingering rays when evening shades have descended. By aid of glass the eagle may be seen demurely surveying the world, or in her absence the straining necks of her ambitious brood, watching the neighboring crags for their royal parent’s return. ”

“ 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. ”