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CHAPTER XIII.

WASHINGTON EAGLE AND FISH HAWK

WE must premise in speaking of the "Bird of Washington," that the existence of any such distinct species, as to entitle it to a new name, is still regarded by the majority of American naturalists, at least, as hypothetical. Indeed, the savans of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia utterly repudiate the existence of any such species, persisting that it is merely the great Cinerious, or Sea-Eagle, which Mr. Audubon has mistaken for a new variety. This bird, Falco Albicilla, even Mr. Audubon acknowledges to bear so strong a resemblance to the Bird of Washington, Falco Washingtoniis, as to be easily confounded with it by a superficial observer. Now the Philadelphia Academicians assert that the specimen referred to by Audubon as having been deposited for the Washington Eagle, by Dr. Richard Harlan, in their collection, is nothing more nor less than a very large SeaEagle, and that the drawing by Audubon himself is clearly of a bird of the same species. Here doctors disagree, to be sure, and I am not entirely certain that the Philadelphians are not in some degree right; but that there is a new eagle, which has not yet been figured, or described, peculiar to the North American continent, I am perfectly sure, and that this eagle is the one noticed by Mr. Audubon, who saw it several times on the wing, I am equally certain, even although the particular bird figured by him may have been a Sea-Eagle. In a word, though there can be no doubt that he several

times saw a new eagle on the wing, there may be some doubt about the particular specimen shot by him at Henderson being the same bird. I shall first, although having previously furnished a portion of these extracts in my first volume, give his description of the discovery by him of the Washington Eagle, feeling myself fully justified by the importance of the subject, in quoting them entire, before I proceed to explain my reasons for the seemingly paradoxical opinion given here.

Mr. Audubon says:

"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 feelings. 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 sight has been wont to wake 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 years engaged 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, 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 distance, that it was a species quite new to me. My patroon assured me that such birds were indeed rare; that they sometimes followed the hunters, to feed on the entrails of the animals which they had killed when the lakes were frozen over; but that when the lakes

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were open, they would dive in the day-time after fish, and snatch them up in the manner of the fish-hawk; and that they roosted generally on the shelves of the rocks, where they built their nests, of which he had discovered several by the quantity of white dung scattered below.

"Convinced that the bird was unknown to naturalists, I felt particularly anxious to learn its habits, and to discover in what particulars it differed from the rest of its genus. My next meeting with this bird was a few years afterward, whilst engaged in collecting cray-fish on one of those flats which border and divide Green river, in Kentucky, near its junction with the Ohio. The river is there bordered by a range of high cliffs, which, for some distance, follow its windings. I observed on the rocks, which, at that place, are nearly perpendicular, a quantity of white ordure, which I attributed to owls, that might have resorted thither. 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

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; and added, that he had espied the nest some days before, and had seen one of the old birds dive and catch a fish. This he thought strange, having, till then, always observed that both Brown Eagles and Bald Eagles procured this kind of food by robbing the fish-hawks. He said, that if I felt particularly anxious to know what nest it was, I might soon satisfy myself, as the old birds would come and feed their young with fish, for he had seen them do so before.

"In high expectation, I seated myself about a hundred yards from the foot of the rock. Never did time pass more slowly. I could not help betraying the most impatient

curiosity, for my hopes whispered it was a Sea Eagle's nest. Two long hours elapsed before the old bird made his appearance, which was announced to us by the loud hissings of the two young ones, which crawled to the extremity of the hole to receive a fine fish. I had a perfect view of this noble bird as he held himself to the edging rock, hanging like the barn bank, or social swallow, his tail spread, and his wings partly so. I trembled lest a word should escape my companions. The slightest murmur had been treason from them. They entered into my feelings, and, though little interested, gazed with me. In a few minutes the other parent joined her mate; and, from the difference in size (the female of rapacious birds being much larger), we knew this to be the mother bird. She also brought a fish; but more cautious than her mate, she glanced her quick and piercing eye around, and instantly perceived that her abode had been discovered. She dropped her prey, with a loud shriek communicated the alarm to the male, and, hovering with him over our heads, kept up a growling cry, to intimidate us from our suspected design. This watchful solicitude I have ever found peculiar to the female-must I be understood to speak only of birds?

"The young having concealed themselves, we went and picked up the fish which the mother had let fall. It was a white perch, weighing about five and a half pounds. The upper part of the head was broken in, and the back torn by the talons of the eagle. We had plainly seen her bearing it in the manner of the fish-hawk.

"This day's sport being at an end, we journeyed homeward, we agreed to return the next morning, with the view of obtaining both the old and young birds; but rainy and tempestuous weather setting in, it became necessary to defer the expedition till the third day following, when, with guns and men all in readiness, we reached the rock. Some posted themselves at the foot, others upon it, but in vain. We passed the entire day without either seeing or hearing an

eagle, the sagacious birds, no doubt, having anticipated an invasion, and removed their young to new quarters.

"I come at last to the day which I had so often and so ardently desired. Two years had gone by since the discovery of the nest, in fruitless excursions; but my wishes were no longer to remain ungratified. In returning from the little village of Henderson, to the house of Dr. Rankin, about a mile distant, I saw an eagle rise from a small inclosure, not a hundred yards before me, where the doctor had, a few days before, slaughtered some hogs, and alight upon a low tree branching over the road. I prepared my double-barrelled piece, which I constantly carry, and went slowly and cautiously toward him. Quite fearlessly he awaited my approach, looking on me with undaunted eye. I fired, and he fell. Before I reached him he was dead. With what delight did I survey the magnificent bird! Had the finest salmon ever pleased him, as he did me? Never. I ran and presented him to my friend with a pride which they alone feel who, like me, have devoted themselves from their earliest childhood to such persuits, and who have derived from them their first pleasures. To others, I must seem to 'prattle out of fashion.' The doctor, who was an experienced hunter, examined the bird with much satisfaction, and frankly acknowledged he had never before seen or heard of it.

"The name which I have chosen for this new species of eagle the Bird of Washington-may, by some, be considered as preposterous and unfit; but as it is, indisputably, the noblest bird of its genus that has yet been discovered. in the United States, I trust I shall be allowed to honor it with the name of one yet nobler, who was the savior of his country, and whose name will ever be dear to it. To those who may be curious to know my reasons, I can only say that, as the new world gave me birth and liberty, the great man who insured its independence is next my heart. He had a nobility of mind and a generosity of soul, such as are

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