Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-12-18
THE KING OF BIRDS
Wonderful Sight and Age of tho
American Eagle.
SAVAGE WAYS OF THE OLD ONES
Their Habits, Haunts and Subsist.
ence in the Mountain Country.
HOW THEY REAR YOUNG

| Nashville. Tenn. Letter In New York Post
Inc mountain solitudes and Businesses of
tennessee, which have figured so often of
late in the stories and novels of John Fox,
Sharies Esbert Craddock and others have
among other respect-inspiring natives
many specimens of the American national
bird, the bald-headed eagle which makes
| It's eyrie among the lofty and ragged clefts
and crags and pinnacles of the ranges. II ia
found on the Stone mountain the great
Roare. GAG feet high: on the Bald at $3.50
| feet, and the Great Smoky range which
| rises $3.50 feet: on the Bullhead, and in
many other lofty places
For these splendid birds there is a never
falling demand. and as a result there arc
many mountaineers who have become ex-
| pert catchers of these mountain prizes and
who often reap rich rewards in return for
rerilous risks and daring adventures
Young eagles bring from $40 to $50 and
occasionally 500. while eagles that are OF
some age and Of great size cost much
| as $500 these being rarely captured. how
ever. Eagles which are killed i'm The at
tempt TO capture them are valuable TO
ket for these great stuffed birds. Their
feathers especially those of wing and tail,
are likewise sold for good prices.
Their Nests.
The eagle either builds its nest upon tho
! top of a mighty tree growing far up on the
mountain among myriads of twining vines
and the thickest and most inaccessible
bushes or shrubs, on the summit of
high rock. 1t is always a large one. strong
ly and comfortably built. large sticks and
branches being laid together, nearly fiat
and bound with twining vines. The spa
cious inside is covered with hair and moss
es. so infinitely woven together that no
wind can penetrate In this abode the
mother bird lays two eggs. which are grea.
curiosities. The long end of the egg tapers
down to a point. while its color is dirt or
! brownish red, with many dots and spots
| upon it. The young birds are driven forth
| from the nest by their savage parents to
| scratch for themselves soon as they are
able TO fly, and no training whatever is
given them by the old bird. That is left
| to their instinct. which hunger and neces-
| sity develop. There is no going back to tho
old home for the young eagle, for the
mother bird at once tears up every Vestige
| of the nest where they have thriven since
birth. and while they emit plaintive shrieks,
darts at them and pushes them on the
crags or rocks. and they must take 10
| their wings fall, this is how they learn
| to fly at once.
Their Great Age.
1t takes three years for young eagle TO
| gain its full and complete plumage and for
| the development of its strength. Once full
| grown. provided he does not meet with
| violent death. an eagle should have between
| so and 100 years.
Up in the mountains the eagle finds IT as
hard to gain subsistence as do the feathered
| grumblerS of the IlainS below. The pre-
seriousness of his existence and the wild
manner in which food is gathered seem to
| give the bird greater ferocity the Older II
grows. The eagles range among the noun
| tains and valleys in pairs. their young
meyer following bllt doing the hest they
| can by themselves. The stern, unsocial ty-
ranny of the older birds. beginning with the
casting out of the eaglets, manifests itself
! in later years in their treatment of their
| mates
If the male bird he the stronger. most of
| the prey belongs to him. and he allows the
| female to eat but q paltry share between
| fierce thrusts Of his beak. If the female
| is the stronger (and she generally isl, the
| male bird covers and winces under many
q fierce blow from his unfeeling wife, no
matter how small the morsel he is striving
to get But when danger threatens, no hui
| man pair battle so formidab!y for them.
selves and each other as do two eagles.
Homogeneous.
1t is a noteworthy fact that each male
has but mate during his lifetime. If
the female is killed or captured, the surviv-
ing male becomes an eagle hermit and
| fiercer than ever.
Eagles are often seen near their nests to-
gether, hut when the sun is shining they
frequently take their majestic flight
straight toward il, until they disappear
from sight Sitting upon the mountainside
their vision is so keen that they can see
far down in the valley a sheep or young
goat a big turkey or rooster. a small pig.
a rabbit, or partridge, and almost instan-
taneously they descend upon their victim.
Often, when a large calf or goat is to be
attacked and carried off, four or six of
the great birds will unite and remove the
carcass to a safe spot when they will i'm
mediately begin to fight ii out to see which
OF them is entitled to the choicest bits, and
it is truly a survival of the fittest in such
combats these But an eagle is always
confident of his strength. and rarely over
reaches himself in such conflicts in his
desire for prey.
SwOOpfng I'm Pairs.
When lingering by the mountain rivers,
watching for ducks or geese or even fish,
a pair of eagles will display their natural
shrewdness. They swoop from opposite d.
rections upon the fowl, which tries to escape
by diving, and could outwit one eagle; but
suddenly as the bird comes to the surface
of the water the second eagle seizes him.
/ With its wonderful power of sight cover
ing radius of miles. the eagle combines n
Swiftness of flight equally marvellous. In a
single night and day a full-grown eagle
can fly 1000 miles. Oftentimes the yistoi
in the Tennessee mountains can Just SCI
him like a little speck in the sky, moving
restlessly and rapidly in majestic circles
about the crest of a far-away peak. The
sightseers and mountaineers who love to
watch eagles always choose the break of
dawn or calm sunset. Then they are to
he seen wheeling in circles and gliding
about in horizontal sweeps, Just before
starting out on days hunt, or settling
for the night
CurfOua French law