THE EAGLE. 1638

The eagle is one of the birds prohibited as food in Levi-
ticus xi. The gier eagle mentioned in the same chapter is
supposed by the authors of the Septuagint to be the swan :
the name obviously pointing to some bird noted for its
attachment to its young, and the swan, in spite of its ge-
nerally inoffensive disposition, will attack even man himself
in their defence; the eagle, however, is by no means want-
ing in affection and care for its brood, and there is a beau-
tiful allusion in Deuteronomy xxxii. to the attempts of the
parent bird to teach her young to fly: “As an eagle stirreth
up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad
her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings, so the
Lord alone did lead him,” meaning Israel.

A striking parable may be seen in Wzekiel xvii., in which,
under the similitude of two eagles and a vine, the prophet
shadows forth some of the events that were to take place
in the latter days of the Hebrew kingdom. The eagle is
there made the symbol of imperial power, as it has so often
been in later times: an eagle with expanded wings formed
the imperial standard of the Persians under Cyrus; it was
also thus used by the Romans; and modern nations have
adopted a similar ensign, as a type of strength, power, and
swiftness.