Uncle Thomas then took down from a shelf a volume of Wilson’s “American Ornithology,” and turning to the account of the Fish-Hawk, which he explained was the name by which the bird was known in America, “and though” said he, “as I have already told you, it is smaller than the Golden Eagle, yet its general character is the same; and its size and strength entitle it to the more high-sounding name.” He then pointed out the passage which he wished Harry to read, which was as follows:—
“On leaving the nest, the Osprey usually flies direct till he comes to the sea, then sails around, in easy curving lines, turning sometimes in the air as on a pivot, apparently without the least exertion, rarely moving the wings, his legs extended in a straight line behind, and his remarkable length, and curvature or bend of wing, distinguishing him from all other Hawks. The height at which he thus elegantly glides is various, from one hundred to one hundred and fifty and two hundred feet, sometimes much higher, all the while calmly reconnoitering the face of the deep below. Suddenly he is seen to check his course, as if struck by a particular object, which he seems to survey for a few moments with such steadiness that he appears fixed in air, flapping his wings. This object, however, he abandons, or rather, the fish he had in his eye has disappeared, and he is again seen sailing around as before. Now, his attention is again arrested, and he descends with great rapidity, but, ere he reaches the surface, shoots off on another course, as if ashamed that another victim had escaped him. He now sails at a short height above the surface, and, by a zig-zag descent, and without seeming to dip his feet in the water, seizes a fish, which, after carrying a short distance, he probably drops, or yields up to the Bald Eagle, and again ascends by easy spiral circles to the higher regions of the air, where he glides about in all the ease and majesty of his species. At once, from this sublime and aerial height, he descends like a perpendicular torrent, plunging into the sea with a loud rushing sound, and with the certainty of a rifle-shot. In a few moments he emerges, bearing in his claws his struggling prey, which he always carries head foremost, and, having risen a few feet above the surface, shakes himself as a Water-Spaniel would do, and directs his heavy and laborious course directly for the land. If the wind blows hard, and his nest lies in the quarter from whence it comes, it is amusing to observe with what judgment and exertion he beats to windward, not in a direct line, that is, in the wind’s eye, but making several successive tacks to gain his purpose. This will appear the more striking, when we consider the size of the fish which he sometimes bears along. A Shad was taken from a Fish-Hawk near Great Egg Harbour, on which he had begun to regale himself, and had already ate a considerable portion of it; the remainder weighed six pounds. Another Fish-Hawk was passing the same place, with a large Flounder in his grasp, which struggled and shook him so, that he dropped it on the shore. The Flounder was picked up, and served the whole family for dinner. It is a singular fact, that the Hawk never descends to pick up a fish which he happens to drop either on the land or in the water. There is a kind of abstemious dignity in this habit of the Hawk superior to the gluttonous voracity displayed by most other birds of prey, particularly by the Bald Eagle. The Hawk, however, in his fishing pursuits, sometimes mistakes his mark, or overrates his strength, by striking fish too large and powerful for him to manage, by whom he is suddenly dragged under water; and though he sometime succeeds in extricating himself, after being taken three or four times down, yet oftener both parties perish. The bodies of Sturgeon, and of several other large fish, with a Fish Hawk fast grappled in them, have at various times been found dead on the shore, cast up by the waves.”
“That is very curious,” said John. “I wonder the Eagle does not relax his hold of the fish when it finds it is too strong for him.”
“The talons of the Eagle tribe, with which they secure their prey,” said Uncle Thomas, “are remarkably sharp and powerful instruments, nor is the power with which they wield them less remarkable, but, like all other muscular power, its greatest force can be exerted in one direction only. Thus, for instance, John, in the case of your own hand, the power with which you could close your fingers on a cylinder compared to that which, supposing it hollow, you could exercise on it by opening them (or applying that power backwards,) is at least ten to one. This will explain to you how it is that the Eagles are sometimes caught in the way Mr. Wilson has stated. They seize their prey so firmly that their talons get fixed in the animal’s flesh, and they are unable to withdraw them.
“In Britain,” continued Uncle Thomas, “several instances of the same kind have been observed. On a very sultry day in the month of July a shepherd, while engaged in searching for some missing Sheep, observed an Eagle seated on the banks of a deep pool, apparently watching its prey. Presently it darted into the water, and seized, with a powerful grasp, a large Salmon. A desperate struggle now took place, and the shepherd hurrying to the spot found the Eagle unable to extricate itself, and frequently pulled under water by his vigorous antagonist. Seizing a large stone, the shepherd threw it at the combatants with such force that it broke the Eagle’s wing, and the Salmon exhausted by its violent struggles, suffered itself to be captured without difficulty.
“An adventure of the same kind,” said Uncle Thomas, “in which, however, the Eagle was victorious, is related by a Scotch clergyman. A large Eagle in one of its hunting excursions observing a Halibut—a large flat fish somewhat resembling a Turbot—within its reach, stooped down and struck his powerful talons into its back; a struggle now took place, but the fish not possessing the agility of the salmon was at length overcome. It was too large however, for the Eagle to carry off, so, spreading its wings as a sailor would do the sail of a boat, it remained seated on the back of the Halibut till the wind bore it to the shore. Unhappily for the poor Eagle, however, its troubles did not end here, for its motions having been watched, some people rushed in and took it alive before it could extricate itself.”
“Poor creature!” said Jane, “he deserved to escape after displaying so much ingenuity.”
“Harry,” said Uncle Thomas, “will now have the goodness to read to us Audubon’s very charming account of what he calls the Great American Eagle, but which is supposed to be merely the Osprey in its young plumage. Here it is:”—
“Never shall I forget the delight which the first sight that I obtained of this noble bird gave me. Not even Herschel, when he discovered the planet which bears his name, could have experienced more rapturous feelings. We were on a trading voyage, ascending the Upper Mississippi. The keen wintry blasts whistled around us, and the cold from which I suffered had, in a great degree, extinguished the deep interest which, at other seasons, this magnificent river has been wont to awake in me. I lay stretched beside our patroon. The safety of our cargo was forgotten, and the only thing that called my attention was the multitude of Ducks of different species, accompanied by vast flocks of Swans, which from time to time passed us. My patroon, a Canadian, had been engaged many years in the fur trade. He was a man of much intelligence; and, perceiving that these birds had engaged my curiosity, seemed anxious to find some new object to divert me. An Eagle flew over us. ‘How fortunate!’ he exclaimed; ‘this is what I could have wished. Look, Sir! the Great Eagle, and the only one I have seen since I left the lakes.’ I was instantly on my feet, and, having observed it attentively, concluded, as I lost it in the distance, that it was a species quite new to me. My patroon assured me that such birds were indeed rare; that they sometimes followed the hunters, to feed on the entrails of animals which they had killed, when the lakes were frozen over, but that, when the lakes were open, they would dive in the daytime after fish, and snatch them up in the manner of the Fishing Hawk, and that they roosted generally on the shelves of the rocks, where they built their nests.
“Convinced that the bird was unknown to naturalists, I felt particularly anxious to learn its habits, and to discover in what particulars it differed from the rest of its genus. My next meeting with it was a few years afterwards, whilst engaged in collecting Cray-Fish on one of those flats which border and divide Green River, in Kentucky, near its junction with the Ohio. The river is there bordered by a range of high cliffs, which, for some distance, follow its windings. I observed on the rocks, which, at that place, are nearly perpendicular, signs of a nest which I fancied might belong to the Owls that might have resorted thither. I mentioned the circumstance to my companions, when one of them, who lived within a mile of the place, told me it was the nest of the Brown Eagle, meaning the White-Headed Eagle in its immature state. I assured him that this could not be, and remarked that neither the old nor the young birds of that species ever build in such places, but always in trees. Although he could not answer my objection he stoutly maintained that a Brown Eagle of some kind above the usual size had built there, and added, that he had espied the nest some days before, and had seen one of the old birds dive and catch a fish. This he thought strange, having till then always observed that both Brown Eagles and Bald Eagles procured this kind of food by robbing the Fish-Hawks. He said that if I felt particularly anxious to know what nest it was I might soon satisfy myself, as the old birds would come and feed their young with fish, for he had seen them do so before.