ground and perish. The other extreme among our common birds is
furnished by the ferruginous thrush, which collects together a mass of
material that would fill a half-bushel measure; or by the fish-hawk,
which adds to and repairs its nest year after year, till the whole
would make a cart-load.

The rarest of all nests is that of the eagle, because the eagle is the
rarest of all birds. Indeed, so seldom is the eagle seen, that its
presence always seems accidental. It appears as if merely pausing on
the way, while bound for some distant unknown region. One September,
while a youth, I saw the ring-tailed eagle, an immense, dusky bird,
the sight of which filled me with awe. It lingered about the hills for
two days. Some young cattle, a two year-old colt, and half a dozen
sheep were at pasture on a high ridge that led up to the mountain,
and in plain view of the house. On the second day, this dusky monarch
was seen flying about above them. Presently he began to hover over
them, after the manner of a hawk watching for mice. He then with
extended legs let himself slowly down upon them, actually grappling
the backs of the young cattle, and frightening the creatures so that
they rushed about the field in great consternation; and finally, as he
grew bolder and more frequent in his descents, the whole herd broke
over the fence, and came tearing down to the house "like mad." It did
not seem to be an assault with intent to kill, but was, perhaps, a
stratagem resorted to in order to separate the herd and expose the
lambs, which hugged the cattle very closely. When he occasionally
alighted upon the oaks that stood near, the branch _could_ be seen to
sway and bend beneath him. Finally, as a rifleman started out in
pursuit of him, he launched into the air, set his wings, and sailed
away southward. A few years afterward, in January, another eagle
passed through the same locality, alighting in a field near some dead