The record-union., 1897-01-09
THE KING OF BIRDS.
His Realm Among the Mountains Of East
Tennessee.
The Habits and PeCuliaritieS of the
American Eagle as Exhibited
to the Hunter.

There are many eagles in the Tennes-
see Mountains, and there are mountain
GERS who are expert catchers OF the
young eaglets, who reap rich rewards
in return for their perilous risks and ad-
ventures Eagles make their eyrieS
| among the clefts and crags Of the high
est mountains of the State. They are
found on the Stone Mountain, the great
Roane, 6,296 feet high; the Bald, 5,55O
feet; the Great Smoky range, $685. feet;
the Bullhead, 6,612 feet; on the Unaka,
the Big Stone and others, none of them
less than 5000 feet above the level Of the
country at their feet.
The American yacht Defender, which
defeated the English yacht Valkyrie
III. in the famous international race
last year, carried as it's mascots two
young eaglets captured in the Tennes-
see Mountains Private owners of
yachts, Captains of big ocean liners, and
the steamboat men of the big rivers OF
America are very partial to eaglets as
pets, and the eagle catchers find this
class of men among their best custom
ers There is well-grounded supersti-
tion among them that the boat or ship
| that carries the king of birds for its
mascot will never go down. The super
stitious belief is like the superstition of
the old Romans, who, in choosing the
great bird as an emblem for their i'm
perial standard, regarded it as the fav-
orite messenger of Jupiter, and that the
bird held communion with heaven.
Oriental people, too, thought that the
feathers of an eagles tail made their
arrows invincible. The Indian tribes
among the mountains of East Tennessee
venerated the eagle as their war bird,
and valued it's feathers for headdresses
and to decorate their pipes of peace.
Young eagles bring from $40 to $50
occasionally 500. Eagles that are of
some age and of a great size (such are
rarely captured, however) bring as high
as $500 to $500. Eagles which have to
be killed while trying to capture them
are valuable to taxidermists, who al
ways find an easy market for a great
stuffed eagle. Their feathers, especially
the wing and tail feathers, are sold for
good prices.
The eagle builds it's nest upon the
top of a mighty tree growing far up on
the mountain, among the myriad of
twining vines, or in the thickest and
almost inaccessible growth of bushes
and shrubs, or on the summit of a high
rock. An eagles nest is large one al
ways, and is strongly and comfortably
built. Large sticks and branches are
laid together, nearly fiat, and bound
with twining vines. The spacious inside
is covered with hair and MOSES. so
minutely woven together that no wind
can enter. The mother bird lays two
eggs which are curiosities. The long
end tapers down to a point. The color
of the egg is a ground of brownish red.
with many dots and spots upon it. The
egg itself is proof of the wild and saw
age parentage.
An eagle lives from eighty to 100
years. The young birds are driven
forth by their savage parents to scratch
for themselves as soon as they are able
to fly. No training is given them by
the old bird. That is left to their wild
instincts, which hunger and necessity
develop. There is no going back to-
the old home for the young eagle. The
mother bird tears up every vestige of
the nest where they have thriven since
birth, and while they emit plaintive
shrieks the old bird darts at them and
pushes them off the crags or rocks, and,
to prevent falling, they must take to