I waited for some time, but perceiving that they did not intend to alight, I determined to risk the chance of a flying shot. What would I not have given at that moment for a smooth-bore, loaded with "buck." Unfortunately I carried a rifle, with only a single bullet.
The four eagles continued to circle around the forsaken nest.
I observed that only two of the four had the white head and tail. The other two were of a uniform dusky brown. The former I knew to be the old birds with plumage matured.
Choosing the larger of these, I took aim and fired.
The eagle fell at my feet, crippled by a shot through the shoulder.
But I had not yet secured my prize, and on through the palmettoes I rushed after the wounded bird, that went screaming and fluttering before me.
More than a hundred yards was made in this way, when a blow from the butt of my rifle at length put an end to the scrambling chase, and the eagle was mine. It was the female, a fine bird, in perfect plumage.
By this the other three had gone clear off from the island, as I could tell by their screams heard dying away in the far distance.
CHAPTER IX.