“It must have been a very strong Bird,” remarked Jane.
“It is perhaps only under the influence of extreme hunger, or in defense of themselves or their young,” continued Uncle Thomas, “that the Eagle ever attacks human beings. Probably to the former of these is to be attributed the attack of one on a little boy of which I will now tell you:—
“A few years ago, as two boys, the one about seven and the other five years old, were amusing themselves in trying to reap during the time that their parents were at dinner, in a field in the neighbourhood of New York, a large Eagle came sailing over them, and with a swoop attempted to seize the eldest, but luckily missed him. Not at all dismayed, the Bird alighted on the ground at a short distance, and in a few moments repeated the attempt. The bold little fellow defended himself with the sickle in his hand, and when the bird rushed upon him, he struck it. The sickle entered under the left wing, went through the ribs, and proved instantly fatal. On being measured, it was found that from the tip of one wing to that of the other, was upwards of six feet! Its stomach was opened, and found to be entirely empty. The little boy did not receive a scratch.”
“He must have been a bold little fellow,” said Jane.
“Do you think you should have fought as determinedly, John?” asked Mary.
John was, however, too modest to return an answer directly in the affirmative. He merely said mildly, “I don’t know, Mary; I hope I should.”
Uncle Thomas, seeing that this story of the valiant defence of the little boy excited so much interest among his little auditors, produced a portfolio, in which he kept a few choice prints, one of which contained a representation of the boy defending himself against the Eagle. When they had done admiring it, Uncle Thomas continued:—
“Powerful as the Eagle is, it is frequently vanquished by the animals on which it seizes. It has been observed while soaring into the sky with its prey suddenly to falter in its flight, and then to fall to the earth as if pierced with a ball by some skilful marksman. A gamekeeper to a Scottish nobleman, who witnessed a scene of this kind, hurried to the spot, and found the Eagle quite dead, and a Stoat, an animal of the Weasel kind, severely wounded, struggling by its side. The little animal on being seized by the Eagle had with instinctive sagacity seized upon and ruptured one of the principal arteries in the Eagle’s neck, and thus brought his enemy to the ground.
“I wonder such a large and powerful animal as the Eagle did not kill the little Stoat before it had time to seize its neck,” said Harry.
“Recollect, Harry,” said Jane, “that Weasels are very nimble creatures. As we were walking through Langton Wood lately, we saw one running about, but it soon got among some loose stones and concealed itself.”