animal, but tarried briefly.

[Illustration: EAGLE.]

So much by way of identification. The bird is common to the northern
parts of both hemispheres, and places its eyrie on high, precipitous
rocks. A pair built on an inaccessible shelf of rock along the Hudson
for eight successive years. A squad of Revolutionary soldiers also
found a nest along this river, and had an adventure with the bird that
came near costing one of their number his life. His comrades let him
down by a rope to secure the eggs or young, when he was attacked by
the female eagle with such fury that he was obliged to defend himself
with his knife. In doing so, by a mis-stroke, he nearly severed the
rope that held him, and was drawn up by a single strand from his
perilous position. Audubon, from whom this anecdote is taken, figures
and describes this bird as the golden eagle, though I have little
doubt that Wilson was right, and that the golden eagle is a distinct
species.

The sea-eagle also builds on high rocks, according to Audubon, though
Wilson describes the nest of one which he saw near Great Egg Harbor,
in the top of a large yellow pine. It was a vast pile of sticks, sods,
sedge, grass, reeds, etc., five or six feet high by four broad, and
with little or no concavity. It had been used for many years, and he
was told that the eagles made it a sort of home or lodging-place in
all seasons. This agrees with the description which Audubon gives of
the nest of the bald eagle. There is evidently a little confusion on
both sides.

The eagle in all cases uses one nest, with more or less repair, for