THE EAGLE. 307

various feathered tribes that pursue their busy avocations
below; the snow-white gulls, slowly winnowing the air; the
busy tringze, coursing along the sands; trains of ducks stream-
ing over the surface; silent and watchful cranes, intent and
wading; clamorous crows; and all the winged multitude that
subsist by the bounty of this vast liquid magazine of nature.
High over all these hovers one, whose action instantly arrests
all attention. By his wide curvature of wing, and sudden
suspension in the air, he knows him to be the fish-hawk,
settling over some devoted victim of the deep. His eye
kindles at the sight, and balancing himself with half-opened
wings on the branch, he watches the result. Down, rapid
as an arrow from heaven, descends the distant object of his
attention, the roar of its wings reaching the ear as it dis-
appears in the deep, making the surges foam around! At
this moment the looks of the eagle are all ardour; and level-
ling his neck for flight, he sees the fish-hawk once more emerge,
struggling with his prey, and mounting into the air with
screams of exultation. This is the signal for the eagle, who,
launching in the air, instantly gives chase, and soon gains on
the fish-hawk; each exerts his utmost power to mount above
the other, displaying in these rencontres the most elegant
and sublime aérial evolutions. The unencumbered eagle
rapidly advances, and is just on the point of reaching his
opponent, when with a sudden scream, probably of despair
and honest execration, the latter drops his fish; the eagle
poising himself for a moment, as if to take a more certain
aim, descends like a whirlwind, snatches it in his grasp ere
it reaches the water, and bears his ill-gotten booty silently
away into the woods.”

The Vulture. The Vultures have been sometimes called the
Hyeenas of the feathered world, and judged by their habits,
they certainly justify the term. As scavengers they serve
a useful purpose in Eastern lands and deserve the protec-
tion they are said to receive from the natives. The Griffin