The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-12-28
EAGLE AND RAVEN.
A Curious Battle in the Air Termin-
ated by a Charge of Buckshot.
from the New York Sun,
scranton Dpc 16 Mr. ,,+bo,. 1y MO


Scranton, Dec. 16.-Mr, Luther T. Wal
ling, of Lye Greek, Bradford county,
went into the North mountain region of
Sullivan county a few days ago to hunt
deer with party of Lackawanna valley
sportsmen. When they had established
camp the hunters made the penalty of
breaking the rule being a fine of s..
While standing on a runway the second
day, Mr.. Walling's attention was at
tracted to a fierce battle in mid-air direct
ly over the avine, and the fight became
so interesting that he forgot all about
deer for the time.
The winged belligerents were an eagle
and raven. Apparently the eagle had
started to fly from one mountain top to
another, and had been attacked by the
raven before it had gone far The eagle
had a bird in its claws, and ii was evil
dent that the raven was trying to make
it drop its prey. When Mr.. Walling
caught sight of the warning birds, the
raven had the best of the fight. 1t dived
and struck the eagle on the back a num-
Der of times, the eagle contenting itself
with shooting out at the raven with its
bill, but failing to hit it.
At length the raven worried the eagle
to such an extent that the latter arose in
the air with great swiftness, far above it's
tormentor, and then diyed toward it at
the speed of a meteor. The raven under
stood the eagles tactics perfectly, for it
evaded the fatal stroke Just in the nick of
time, and the eagle swooped to within 200
feet of the ground before it curved for an
other upward fight. AT that moment the
pugnaciouS raven struck it again, and
once more the eagle arose high in the air
and made another futile dart at the raven.
This was repeated seven or eight times
with like result.
Then the raven clawed a mass of
feathers from the eagles back, and after
another race skYward and downward the
eagle, seeming to have got enough of the
battle. stsrted to wing its way to the OPP
posite mountain top. 1t still chung to its
prey, and the raven, which was as full of
tight as ever, renewed the attack so furi-
ously that the eagle was compelled to
change its mind about seeking shelter in
the timber. 1t fought the raven OFF until
the battlefield was in about the same
point of the sky that the fight had begun,
or almost directly over the spot where
Mr.. Walling was standing in the bushes.
While witnessing the battle it occurred
to Mr.. Walling that the hunting party
had been talking about the difficulty of
shooting ravens the night before. One of
the sportsmen had said that he would
give SO for a perfect specimen of a raven
to put in his collection of stuffed birds,
and the remembrance of that fact caused
Mr.. Walling to make up his mind to shoot
at the raven, even if had to sacrifice his
chance of killing deer.
So the next time the raven dived at the
eagle, Mr.. Walling fired at it with a
charge of buckshot. Both birds tumbled
into the briars a few rods away, and both
were dead when Mr.. Walling reached
them. The raven, which was as large as
three ordinary crows, had been killed by
a buckchOt under its left wing, and its
skin was in perfect condition for the tax
idermist. The eagle, large bald one, had
a red -tailed hawk in its talons when it
died with three buckshot in its body.
Instead of resuming his watch on the
runway, MIR. Walling trudged back to
camp at once with his feathered game.
When his fellow sportsmen returned, he
for shooting at something besides deer,
and Dflt 81 in his pocket