death seemed to have lost little of its lustre. No wounds were perceivable
on its body.
The White-headed Eagle is seldom seen alone, the mutual attachment
which two individuals form when they first pair seeming to continue until
one of them dies or is destroyed. They hunt for the support of each
other, and seldom feed apart, but usually drive off other birds of the same
species. They commence their amatory intercourse at an earlier period
than any other land bird with which I am acquainted, generally in the
month of December. At this time, along the Mississippi, or by the margin
of some lake not far in the interior of the forest, the male and female
birds are observed making a great bustle, flying about and circling in various
ways, uttering a loud cackling noise, alighting on the dead branches
of the tree on which their nest is already preparing, or in the act of being
repaired, and caressing each other. In the beginning of January incubation
commences. I shot a female, on the 17th of that month, as she
sat on her eggs, in which the chicks had made considerable progress.
The nest, which in some instances is of great size, is usually placed
on a very tall tree, destitute of branches to a considerable height, but by
no means always a dead one. It is never seen on rocks. It is composed
of sticks, from three to five feet in length, large pieces of turf, rank weeds,
and Spanish moss in abundance, whenever that substance happens to be
near, j When finished, it measures from five to six feet in diameter, and
so great is the accumulation of materials, that it sometimes measures the
same in depth, it being occupied for a great number of years in succession,
and receiving some augmentation each season. When placed in a
naked tree, between the forks of the branches, it is conspicuously seen at
a great distance. The eggs, which are from two to four, more commonly
two or three, are of a dull white colour, and equally rounded at both
ends, some of them being occasionally granulated. Incubation lasts for
more than three weeks, but I have not been able to ascertain its precise
duration, as I have observed the female on different occasions sit for a
few days in the nest, before laying the first egg. Of this I assured myself
by climbing to the nest every day in succession, during her temporary
absence,—a rather perilous undertaking when the bird is sitting.
I have seen the young birds when not larger than middle-sized pullets.
At this time, they are covered with a soft cottony kind of down, their
bill and legs appearing disproportionately large. Their first plumage is
of a greyish colour, mixed with brown of different depths of tint, and before
the parents drive them off from the nest, they are fully fledged. As
a figure of the Young White-headed Eagle will appear in the course of
the publication of my Illustrations, I shall not here trouble you with a
description of its appearance. I once caught three young Eagles of this
species, when fully fledged, by having the tree on which their nest was,
cut down. It caused great trouble to secure them, as they could fly and
scramble much faster than any of our party could run. They, however,
gradually became fatigued, and at length were so exhausted as to offer
no resistance, when we were securing them with cords. This happened
on the border of Lake Pontchartrain, in the month of April. The
parents did not think fit to come within gun-shot of the tree while the
axe was at work.
The attachment of the parents to the young is very great, when the
latter are yet of a small size ; and to ascend to the nest at this time would
be dangerous. But as the young advance, and, after being able to take
wing and provide for themselves, are not disposed to fly off, the old birds
turn them out, and beat them away from them. They return to the nest,
however, to roost, or sleep on the branches immediately near it, for several
weeks after. They are fed most abundantly while under the care of the
parents, which procure for them ample supplies of fish, either accidentally
cast ashore, or taken from the Fish-Hawk, together with rabbits, squirrels,
young lambs, pigs, oppossums, or raccoons. Every thing that
comes in the way is relished by the young family, as by the old birds.
The young birds begin to breed the following spring, not always in pairs
of the same age, as I have several times observed one of these birds in brown
plumage mated with a full-coloured bird, which had the head and tail
pure white. I once shot a pair of this kind, when the brown bird (the
young one) proved to be the female.
Tins species requires at least four years before it attains the full
beauty of its plumage when kept in confinement. I have known two instances
in which the white of the head did not make its appearance until
the sixth spring. It is impossible for me to say how much sooner this
state of perfection is attained, when the bird is at full liberty, although I
should suppose it to be at least one year, as the bird is capable of breeding
the first spring after birth.
The weight of Eagles of this species varies considerably. In the
males, it is from six to eight pounds, and in the females from eight to
twelve. These birds are so attached to particular districts, where they