Eagles hunt in pairs. One flies about near the ground to scare the game from the bushes and trees, while the other keeps watch from above to swoop down on the first thing that comes in sight. While their young ones are in the nest the old birds are very active. They are fierce if anyone comes near the young. Sometimes they show as much cunning in taking their prey as any of the cat family. In flying down to catch animals upon the ground they take care to fly so that their shadow will not frighten their prey. An eagle has been known to destroy an animal too large to be picked up by flying at the animal fiercely as it stood upon the edge of a steep place. The wings of the bird frightened the animal so as to drive it over the cliff to meet death upon the rocks below. (_Continued on page 36._) NUTS. 1. The English walnut (_Inglandaceæ_) has a thin shell. This nut is much esteemed and is an important article of commerce. It yields by expression a bland fixed oil, which, under the names of "walnut oil" and "nut oil," is much used by painters and is a common article of food. 2. The peanut (_Arachis_) is also called ground nut and earth nut. It is cultivated in all warm regions of the globe, and its usefulness is such that it is likely to extend. It was introduced from Peru into Spain, and thence into France. It succeeds in favorable situations and yields from eighty to one hundred fold. Its cultivation is so general in the eastern parts of Africa, and even in the interior, that doubts have been therefore entertained of its American origin, of which, the most eminent botanists seem to be quite satisfied. The fruit is sometimes eaten raw, but generally boiled or roasted. The importance of the plant is chiefly owing to the fixed oil contained in it, which is used for the same purposes as olive or almond oil. 3. The Brazil nut is the fruit of the _Bertholletia excelsa_, a large tree of the order _Lecythidaceæ_, found chiefly on the Orinoco. The shell is very hard, and contains a rich, oily meat in one piece like an almond. The Portuguese early carried on an extensive trade in these nuts. They are now chiefly imported from Para, and continue to form an article of great commercial importance. When fresh, they are highly esteemed for their rich flavor; but they become rancid in a short time from the great quantity of oil they contain. This has been largely extracted for use in lamps. 4. The hickory nut (_Carya alba_) abounds near the great lakes and in some parts of New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The nuts are in considerable demand and are sometimes exported. The shell is thin, but hard, and the kernel sweet. The oil, which was used by the Indians as an article of food, was obtained from it by pounding and boiling.