THE bald eagle became the bird of our nation in the year 1873. It is at home in all parts of North America. Its nest in the top of a lofty tree is a common landmark in Maine, and on the great mountain peaks of the western states the nest is usually placed upon the rock where no man nor beast is able to climb.

The American eagle lives in America only, but an eagle living in the Old World looks very much like it. The American bird is larger than the one found in Europe. It is believed that the bird of our country sometimes visits Europe, for an eagle is seen there at times that seems to be our own bald eagle.

The birds that have beaks and claws like those of the eagle are very much like the cat family upon the ground. They are all fierce hunters and live upon weaker animals and birds. The greatest of all the cat family is the lion, the king of beasts. The greatest of the cats of the air is the eagle, and he is called the king of birds.

As the cats have claws and teeth for catching and tearing their prey so the eagles have beaks and talons which are strong and sharp. The cats come quickly upon their prey without the least noise. So do the eagles. They come down from the sky like lightning and nothing is swift enough to get away, unless it is warned of the eagle's coming.

An eagle sometimes lives to be over one hundred years old. Many years ago it was said that an eagle never dies of sickness nor of old age, but that its beak grows out of shape in its last years so that it cannot eat.

All people have admired the eagle. The Indians of America have always liked to wear the feathers of the king of birds, and in Scotland the chief was known by the feather of an eagle which he wore in his bonnet.

It often happens that a young eagle looks much larger than its father or mother. This is because the first feathers of the wings and tail are longer than the ones that grow in their place when the young eagle has once shed them. The young eagle is also darker than the old one. This is why some people have made mistakes in writing about them without knowing a young eagle from an old one.

Eagles of the same kind are not always of the same color. Some are darker than others and the markings are not alike. Some young eagles shed their downy feathers early and wear the dress of grown-up birds. Others keep some or all of their baby feathers five or six years. And there are some very old eagles still wearing some of the downy feathers of their first dresses.

Eagles kept in cages lose some of their fierce ways and change the colors of their dress. But they do not forget that they are eagles. A large cat once went under the bars of an eagle's cage to get the meat which had not been eaten by the bird. Down came the eagle, tore the cat to pieces, and ate him in a hurry.

The bald eagle is very fond of fish. I have seen him on a bright day sailing high above a lake where I was fishing. He was so slow and lazy that I did not think he was fishing too. But when he saw a fine large fish near the top of the water he came down like a flash, struck his claws into the fish, and flew away to his mate in a tree upon the land.

Sometimes the eagle gets the fish hawk to do the work for him. Waiting on the branch of some tree upon the shore he sees the fish hawk flying about over the water looking for his prey. As soon as a fish has been caught and the hawk is coming ashore to eat it, the eagle frightens the hawk so as to make him drop his fish. Then the eagle catches it again before it strikes the water.

It is because he is such a robber that some of the people of America did not like to have him chosen to be the bird of our nation. They felt that we ought to have a bird that is good towards all the other birds.

A poor family once lived for a long time by robbing an eagle. The father climbed to the nest and took away the meat which the eagle brought for its young. Every day he got food for his family from the eagle. When the young birds were almost ready to fly he cut the feathers from their wings so they could not leave the nest. Then he tied them in to make sure of his own meat every day. The young ones cried harder when tied and the old ones thought they were hungry and brought them more flesh.

When the young are old enough to fly the old eagles fly above them as if to show them how easily it is done. If the young do not try to fly when the old ones think it time, they are pushed out of the nest as if to kill them. But the young wings flutter so that the bird does not fall hard, and the old bird flies under her young one to prevent any harm.

The eye of this bird is so keen that it can see a small animal much farther than the animal can see the great bird. When out of sight in the sky the eagle can see a hare as it comes out of its hole. It comes down so fast that it sometimes catches the hare before it can get back to a safe place.

When the sky is clear the eagle flies very high, but on cloudy days he keeps nearer the ground. He likes to fly over waterfalls because fish are to be caught as they pass over the falls. At Niagara Falls eagles are often seen because animals are sometimes carried over the falls by the rushing water, and the birds can get them easily.

The eagle likes to face the sun and fly towards it as if he thought he could reach it. For a long time people wondered how he could face the sun so without being made blind. But we know now that he has a covering for his eyes that keeps them from all harm from the strong light. If you watch a chicken you may see it has two eyelids for each eye. So has the eagle. The eagle has a sort of eyebrow of feathers that may help protect his eyes from the strong light.

While the eagle is graceful in flying he is not at all so in walking. Few birds are so awkward on their feet. His great claws are made for catching his prey rather than for walking. He can tear things with them and use them in fighting, but he has not much use for them upon the ground.

When they cannot get the food that suits them best eagles will sometimes steal farm animals. Lambs, or even full-grown sheep are easily carried away. They have been known to attack children and carry them off. But they do not often do this, and they have been known to carry them a little way and then set them down again as if the load were too great or they did not wish to eat them.

A story is told of a man who lived a long time ago, and who had but one child, a little girl. He wished to adopt a poor little baby boy, but his wife did not wish to take care of the boy. He had the baby carried to the top of a tree in which was the nest of an eagle. The baby was placed in the nest so he could not fall, and the man and his wife walked under the tree. The child cried so that the lady heard him. She supposed it had been carried there by the bird. Great haste was made to get the baby down, and the lady was so pleased to think she had saved the child from being eaten by the birds that she kept the little one as her own son.

Eagles hunt in pairs. One flies about near the ground to scare the game from the bushes and trees, while the other keeps watch from above to swoop down on the first thing that comes in sight. While their young ones are in the nest the old birds are very active. They are fierce if anyone comes near the young.

Sometimes they show as much cunning in taking their prey as any of the cat family. In flying down to catch animals upon the ground they take care to fly so that their shadow will not frighten their prey. An eagle has been known to destroy an animal too large to be picked up by flying at the animal fiercely as it stood upon the edge of a steep place. The wings of the bird frightened the animal so as to drive it over the cliff to meet death upon the rocks below.

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