ǎbove twelve pounds. Its length is three feet; the extent of its wings, seven feet four inches; the bill is three inches long, and of a deep blue; and the eye of a hazel colour. In general, these birds are found in môûn'tains and thinly inhabited countries; and breed ǎmóng the loftiest cliffs. They choose those places which are remotest from man, upon whose põşşess'ións they but seldom make their depredations, being contented rather to follow the wild game in the forest, than to risk their safety to satisfy their hunger.

2. This fierce animal may be considered àmóng birds, as the lion ǎmóng quadrupeds; and, in many respects, they have a strong similitude to each other. They are both põşşess'ed of force, and an empire over their fellows of the forest. Equally magnanimous, they disdain small plunder, and only pursue animals worthy the conquest. It is not till ǎfter having been long provoked, by the cries of the rook or the magpie, that this generous bird thinks fit to punish them with death.

3. The eagle also disdains to share the plunder of another bird; and will take up with no other prey than that which he has acquired by his own pursuits. How hungry soever he may be, he stoops not to carrion; and when satiated,* never returns to the same carcass, but leaves it for other animals, more rapacious and less delicate than himself. Solitary, like the lion, he keeps the deş'ert to himself ǎlōne; it is as extraordinary to see two pair of eagles in the same môûn'tain, as two lions in the same forest.

4. They keep separate, to find a more ample supply; and consider the quântity of their game as the best proof of their dominion. Nor does the similitude of these animals stop here they have both sparkling eyes, and nearly of the same colour; their claws are of the same form, their breath equally strong, and their cry equally loud and terrifying. Bred both for war, they are enemies of all society; ǎlike fierce, proud, and incapable of being easily tamed.

5. Of all the feathered tribe, the eagle flies the highest; and from thence the ancients have given him the title of the bird of heaven. He possess'es also the sharpest sight: but his sense of smelling, though ăcute, is inferiour to that of a vulture. He never pursues, but when his object is in view; and having seized his prey, he stoops from his height, as it to examine its weight, always laying it on the ground before he carries it-off. He finds no difficulty in taking up geese *sa'shë-a-těd.

E

and cranes. He also carries away hares, lambs, and kids and often destroys' fawns and calves, to drink their blood and bears a part of their flesh to his retreat.

6. Infans themselves, when left unattended, have bee destroy'ed by these rapacious creatures. An instance recorded in Scotland, of two children having been carried o by eagles; but fortunately they received no hurt by the way and, the eagles being pursued, the children were found u hurt in the nests, and restored to the affrighted parents.

7. The eagle is thus at all times a formidable neighbour but peculiarly so when, bringing up its young. It is the that the male and female exert all their force and in'dustr to supply their offspring. Smith, in his history of Ker'r relates, that a poor man in that country got a comfortab subsistence for his family, during a summer of famine, of of an eagle's nest, by robbing the eaglets of food, which w plentifully supplied by the old ones.

8. He protracted their assiduity beyond the usual time, clipping the wings, and retarding the flight of the young and very probably also, as I have known my-self', by so tyi them, as to increase their cries, which àre always found to crease the parent's despatch to procure them provision. was fortunate, however, that the old eagles did not surpri the countryman thus employed, as their resentment mig have been dangerous.

9. It requires great patience and much art to tame eagle; and even though taken young, and subdued by lo assiduity, yet it is a dangerous domestick, and often turns force against its master. When brought into the field the purposes of fowling, the fâl'con-ért is never sure of attachment: its innate pride, and love of liberty, still promp to regain its native solitudes. Sometimes, however, eagles brought to have an attachment to their feeder; they are th highly serviceable, and liberally provide for his pleas'u and support.

10. When the fâl'con-ér lets them go from his hand, th play ǎbout and hóver round him till their game preser which they see at an immense distance, and pursue w cer'tain destruction.

11. It is said that the eagle can live many weeks with food; and that the period of his life exceeds a hund years.

GOLD'SMITH

SECTION II.

The humming-bird.

1. Or all the birds that flutter in the garden, or paint the landscape, the humming-bird is the most delightful to look upon, and the most inoffensive. Of this charming little animal, there are six or seven varieties, from the size of a small wren, down to that of an hum'ble-bee. A Eu-rô-pêăn would not readily suppose that there existed any birds so very small, and yet so completely furnished with a bill, feathers, wings, and intestines, exactly resembling those of the largest kind.

2. Birds not so big as the end of one's little finger, would probably be supposed mere creatures of imagination, were they not seen in infinite numbers, and as frequent as butterflies in a summer's day, sporting in the fields of A-mĕr'i-că, from flower to flower, and extracting sweets with their little bills.

3. The smallest humming-bird is about' the size of a hazelnut. The feathers on its wings and tail àre black; but those on its body, and under its wings, àre of a greenish brown, with a fine red căst or gloss, which no silk or velvet can imitate. It has a small crest on its head, green at the bottom, and as it were gilded at the top; and which sparkles in the sun like a little star in the middle of its fōre'head. The bill is black, straight, slender, and of the length of a small pin.

4. It is inconceivable how much these birds add to the high finishing and beauty of a rich lux'u-ri-oŭs* western landscape. As soon as the sun is risen, the humming-birds, of different kinds, are seen fluttering about the flowers, without ever lighting upon them. Their wings àre in so rapid motion, that it is impossible to diş-çern' their colours, except by their glittering.

5. They are never still, but continually in motion, visiting flower after flower, and extracting its honey as if with a kiss. For this purpose they are furnished with a forky tongue, that enters the cup of the flower, and extracts its nectared tribute. Upon this alone they subsist. The rapid motion of their wings occasions a humming sound, from whence they have their name; for whatever divideş' the air swiftly, must produce a murmur.

6. The nests of these birds are also very curious. They are suspended in the air, at the point of the twigs of an orange, a póme'grăn-ăte, or a citron tree; sometimes even

* lūg-zū'rī-us.