“Two little girls, one five years old, the other three, were playing together when a medium-sized eagle suddenly swooped down upon the elder and despite her companion’s cries, and in the very face of some workmen who came hurrying to the spot, snatched her up into the air. Two months later a shepherd found, on a rock half a league distant, the body of the child half devoured and dried up. “What do you think now of the eagle, the king of birds?” “I think it’s a brigand of the worst kind,” affirmed Jules. “Would you like to see an eagle in the act of hunting, witness its fierce joy when it buries its hooked talons in the quivering flesh of its prey? Then listen to this fine passage from the pen of that ardent lover of birds, Audubon. The scene is laid far from here, in America, and the eagle belongs to a different species from ours; but never mind, the ways of these bandits are the same everywhere. “‘To give you some idea of the nature of this bird, permit me to place you on the Mississippi, on which you may float gently along, while approaching winter brings millions of water-fowl on whistling wings, from the countries of the north, to seek a milder climate in which to sojourn for a season. The Eagle is seen perched in an erect attitude, on the highest summit of the tallest tree by the margin of the broad stream. His glistening but stern eye looks over the vast expanse. He listens attentively to every sound that comes to his quick ear from afar, glancing now and then on the earth beneath, lest even the light tread of the fawn may pass unheard. His mate is perched on the opposite side, and should all be tranquil and silent, warns him by a cry to continue patient. At this well known call, the male partly opens his broad wings, inclines his body a little downwards, and answers to her voice in tones not unlike the laugh of a maniac. The next moment, he resumes his erect attitude, and again all around is silent. Ducks of many species, the Teal, the Wigeon, the Mallard and others, are seen passing with great rapidity, and following the course of the current; but the Eagle heeds them not: they are at that time beneath his attention. The next moment, however, the wild trumpetlike sound of a yet distant but approaching Swan is heard. A shriek from the female Eagle comes across the stream,—for she is as fully on the alert as her mate. The latter suddenly shakes the whole of his body, and with a few touches of his bill, aided by the action of his cuticular muscles, arranges his plumage in an instant. The snow-white bird is now in sight: her long neck is stretched forward, her eye is on the watch, vigilant as that of her enemy; her large wings seem with difficulty to support the weight of her body, although they flap incessantly. So irksome do her exertions seem, that her very legs are spread beneath her tail, to aid her in her flight. She approaches, however. The Eagle has marked her for his prey. As the Swan is passing the dreaded pair,