4, Down, rapid as an arrow from heaven, descends the distant object of his atten tion, the roar of its wings reaching the ear as it disappears in the deep, making the surges foam around ! At this moment the eager looks of the eagle are all ar dour; and levelling his neck for flight, he sees the fish-hawk once more emerge, struggling with his prey, and mounting in the air with screams of exultation. These are the signal for our hero, who, launching into the air, instantly gives chase, soon gains on the fish-hawk, each exerts his utmost to mount above the other, displaying in these rencontres the most elegant and sublime aerie! evo lutions. The unincumbered eagle rapid ly advances, and is just on the point of reaching his opponent, when with a sud den scream, probably of despair and ho nest execration, the latter drops his fish ; the eagle, poising himself for a moment as if to take a more certain aim, descends like a whirlwind, snatches it in his grasp ere it reaches the water, and bears his ill-gotten booty silently away to the woods." This eagle is adopted as the emblem of our country.
F. ossifragus, or sea-eagle, frequents the sea-shore, and subsists principally upon fish ; it is nearly of the size of the golden eagle, and is found in many coun tries both of Europe and America ; and is supposed by many persons, and with good reason, to he only the young of the bald eagle ; its sight is stated to be equal ly clear by night and by day. Mr. Barlow relates, that he saw a bird of this species engaged once in a violent conflict in the air, with a cat which he had lifted in his talons, whose efforts, however, were fin ally too powerful for him, and brought him again to the ground.
P. haliaetus, osprey or fish-hawk, is to be found in almost all parts of Europe and America, on the borders of the ocean, which it frequents for the sake of the fish contained in it, which constitute its principal subsistence, and on which it darts with considerable accuracy; it builds a large nest on trees, and is the most nu merous of the larger birds of prey. See Ayes, Plate VII. fig. 3. , F. buteo, or buzzard of Europe. The buzzard is abundantly provided with means of defence, as well as attack : but is sluggish and cowardly with all its strength, and will suffer itself to be brought to the ground by a sparrow hawk, without at all employing those means, which, if fully exerted, would uniformly and inevitably prove fatal to the assailant. The length of the com mon buzzard is about 20 inches : scarce ly any two of the species are marked alike ; its food consists of birds, vermin, reptiles, and insects. If the female bird be destroyed by violence or disease dur ing incubation, the male will, it is said, succeed to the charge, and perfectly ac complish it.
F. milvus, or the kite, is 'about two feet long, and distinguished from the buzzard by a forked tail. In England it continues during the whole year : in va rious parts of Europe it is migratory, and, as winter approaches, takes its flight to Egypt. It preys chiefly upon small birds, and, from a distance in the air at which it is invisible to the sight of man, will pounce on them with incredible rapidity and fatal precision. It frequently makes
attempts and depredation on broods of young chickens, and furnishes hereby to the observer an interesting spectacle of maternal affection and courage in the hen : from these conflicts the kite gene rally retires worsted, and obliged to await the opportunity, when he may elude the almost incessant vigilance of the dam, or pick up an unfortunate straggler beyond the reach of her superintendance.
F. palumbarius, or the goshawk, is about twenty inches in length ; it feeds on mice and small birds, which last it plucks, before it devours them, with great dexterity and neatness ; it tears these and other animals to pieces before eating them, then swallows these pieces whole, and, like its congeners, throws up from its stomach the hair or remaining feathers which belonged to them, in the form of small pellets. This bird was for merly in high estimation in England, when the diversion of falconry prevailed, and was trained by very careful discipline to the most accurate obedience of its keeper, and to the most vigorous and fa tal pursuit of numerous animals, which, in a state of nature, it left unmolested : even geese and cranes, and also rabbits, it was taught to consider as its prey, and by the judicious application of rewards and punishments, its natural powers at tained an improvement, which previously would scarcely have been deemed possi ble, from any efforts for this purpose.
So difficult was it, however, to meet with that coincidence of circumstances, ne cessary to produce this great discrimina tion, tractability, courage, and obedience, that the price of a well-trained cast of these birds was extremely high, and is recorded, in one instance, to have been no less than the immense sum, in those days, of a thousand pounds. The ladies partook in this interesting sport with the keenest relish, notwithstanding its fa tigues and dangers. The cultivation of this island has long been so far improved as to preclude the continuance of this diversion, which requires for its purpose a large tract of uninclosed country ; in some parts of Europe it is still in use ; in China it is practised, occasionally, for the Emperor's amusement, and conducted with all the form and splendour charac teristic of Oriental manners. In England the goshawk is to be seen very rarely ; in Scotland it is comparatively frequent ; in France and Germany, and Siberia, it is far from uncommon.
Various other species of the falcon were in use formerly for the diversion above noticed, especially the jer-falcon, and the kestrel, belonging to the class of the long-winged hawks, and the sparrow hawk, which belonged to the short-wing ed class, a class less active and rapid than the former. The sparrow-hawk is the terror of pigeons, partridges, and poultry, and commits its depredations with the most astonishing boldness. The male weighs only five ounces, and the female nine, presenting the strongest known case of this sexual difference.
For the stone-falcon, see Plate VII. fig. 2.