_Washington Eagle._――For the first accurate observation of this bird, we have been indebted to the untiring study and genius of Audubon, who first noticed it in the year 1814. He is three feet and seven inches long; the extent of his wings is ten feet two inches. His plumage is compact and glossy, the upper parts being of a dark, shining coppery brown; the throat, breast and belly of a bright rich cinnamon color. He lives in the neighborhood of the seashore, lakes and rivers, and subsists chiefly on fish. ‘The name which I have chosen for this new species of eagle,’ says its great discoverer, ‘the “Bird of Washington,” may, by some, be considered as preposterous and unfit; but as it is indisputably the noblest bird of its genus that has yet been discovered in the United States, I trust I shall be allowed to honor it with the name of one yet nobler, who was the savior of his country, and whose name will ever be dear to it. To those who may be curious to know my reasons, I can only say, that, as the new world gave me birth and liberty, the great man who insured its independence is next to my heart. He had a nobility of mind and a generosity of soul, such as are seldom possessed. He was brave, so is the eagle; like it, too, he was the terror of his foes; and his fame, extending from pole to pole, resembles the majestic soarings of the mightiest of the feathered tribe. If America has reason to be proud of her Washington, so has she to be proud of her great eagle.’ Illustration: Washington Eagle. _White-headed_ or _Bald Eagle_.――This bird is abundant in all the latitudes of the United States, but shows a predilection for the warmer climates. He lives near the seacoast, where he usually selects some lofty pine or cypress for his eyry, which he builds of large sticks, sods, moss, reeds, pine tops and other coarse materials, arranged in a sort of level bed. This breeding place is never deserted as long us the tree lasts. Fish constitutes the chief article of food of this bird, and he usually obtains it by cunning and rapine, seldom by the exercise of honest industry. His principal occupation is to rob the osprey of the fruits of his labor, and he has sometimes been known to attack the vulture, and oblige him to disgorge his carrion.[49] Illustration: White-headed or Bald Eagle.