ful 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
5§ lb. 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, as we journeyed homewards, 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 Doctor
RANKIN, about a mile distant, I saw an eagle rise from a small enclosure
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 towards him. Quite fearlessly he awaited
my approach, looking upon 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 can feel, who, like me, have devoted themselves from
their earliest childhood to such pursuits, 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 honour
it with the name of one yet nobler, who was the saviour 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 ensured its independence is next to my
heart. He had a nobility of mind, and a generosity of soul, such as are
seldom possessed. He was brave, so is the eagle; like it, too, he was the
terror of his foes; and his fame, extending from pole to pole, resembles
the majestic soarings of the mightiest of the feathered tribe. If America
has reason to be proud of her Washington, so has she to be proud of her
Great Eagle
In the month of January following, I saw a pair of these eagles flying
over the Falls of the Ohio, one in pursuit of the other. The next day I
saw them again. The female had relaxed her severity, had laid aside
her coyness, and to a favourite tree they continually resorted. I pursued
them unsuccessfully for several days, when they forsook the place.
The flight of this bird is very different from that of the White-headed
Eagle. The former encircles a greater space, whilst sailing keeps nearer
to the land and the surface of the water, and when about to dive for fish
falls in a spiral manner, as if with the intention of checking any retreating
movement which its prey might attempt, darting upon it only when
a few yards distant. The Fish-hawk often does the same. "When rising
with a fish, the Bird of Washington flies to a considerable distance, forming,
in its line of course, a very acute angle with the surface line of the
water. My last opportunity of seeing this bird, was on the 15th of November
1821, a few miles above the mouth of the Ohio, when two passed
over our boat, moving down the river with a gentle motion. In a letter
from a kind relative, Mr W. BAKEWELL, dated, " Falls of the Ohio, July
1819," and containing particulars relative to the Swallow-tailed Hawk
(Falco fmeatus) t that gentleman says :—" Yesterday, for the first time,
I had an opportunity of viewing one of those magnificent birds, which
you call the Sea Eagle, as it passed low over me, whilst fishing. I shall
be really glad when I can again have the pleasure of seeing your drawing
of it.'"
Whilst in Philadelphia, about twelve months ago, I had the gratification
of seeing a fine specimen of this Eagle at Mr BRANO'S museum. It
was a male in fine plumage, and beautifully preserved. I wished to pur