The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1903-10-15
THE EAGLE AT HIS BEST.
6Oasted Bird Of Freedom Gets His
Living by the Methods of q
Highwayman.

l
'Tf you wish to learn what good eff
feet life in the woods has upon char
acter," said Amasa Clark, the Oldest
guide on the Allagash, according to the
New York Sun, you should watch those
white-headed eagles out there on the
cliff.
Most of you have seen what a 90
nothing thing an eagle is by the sea-
shore. He sits on limb of big tree
all day and never moves until he sees
an Industrious fish hawk dive down and
make capture, when the eagle shows
enough life to pu. chase to the hawk
when the eagle takes 1t away and eats
1t, as if hawks were built for nothing
except to provide dinners for idle and
overbearing eagles.
Its my private opinion, which I'm
making public now for the first time,
| that if it were not for the fish hawk
every eagle which lives along the ocean
would starve to death inside OF a year.
| But move this same eagle 200 miles
inland and put him and his wife up on
the side of tall mountain where they
can have good chance to see what Ia
| going on and the bird undergoes great
change. He stops watching to hnd out
what the fish hawks are going to do and
| gets right down to doing work on his
own hook. The change in his looks Is
as wonderful as in his habits of life.
| mo sooner does he move inland tNan
he pays more attention to his personal
appearance, spending hours in cleaning
up his feathers and preening himself
to look smart and wide awake. the way
all big birds should do.
BEST of all, the inland eagle not only
captures his own food, but he displays
much skill-not to call it reason-in Sc
lecting and taking what he wants to
eat. Last week saw pair of eagles
| kill a deer on Mt. Heresy that gave me
lesson in trailing and overtaking big
game.
| after the Allagash river sweeps
around the base of the mountain 1t wid-
ems out into big swamp or lagoon.
|
warm weather, the water keeping them
cool and warding off the flies, which are
very annoying ia summer.
| Toward night when the brown mos
quitoes come out in force, they drive
the deer fnom the wet grounds to the
windy hilltops. where they stay for
hours at time chewing their cuds and
having good time.
| "One evening just before sundown
saw this pair of eagles circling the
peak where the deer were lying, as II
they were trying to count how many
there were in the herd.
| "All at once the male eagle, who had
the whittier head, made swoop into the
herd, which scattered the deer in all d.
rections. Then l saw that the eagle
had fixed his talons into the back OF
one lively doe and was hanging on for
tried to run in any direction except
toward the cliff, the old she eagle would
come in and head her off by pecking her
eyes, thus compelling the doe to run
In the other direction.
This game was kept up for quarter
If an hour or longer, and though could
not see all that was going on, am
convinced that the female eagle at last
blinded the doe, for, after running about
without any purpose for few min
utes she headed for the ledge and ran
right of over the edge Of the cliff, which
is more than 800 feet high at that place.
On the way down the male eagle un-
hooked his claws and let the doe COM
plete the journey alone.
Next day when went to the side OF
the mountain, found the eagles gorg-
Ing themselves upon the venison from
out, and l was willing to bet my rifle
against a plug Of tobacco that 1t was
the same doe which saw driven over
the big precipice.
"In all the pictures that are printed
of eagles, the birds are drawn holding
rabbits in their claws, which seems
very funny to us who live up here in
the woods, and who know that no
rabbit ever comes out in the daytime.
when eagles are abroad, for an eagle
is as blind at night as hen is, and
goes to roost before 1t Is dark.
"If eagles cannot get any rabbits to
eat they make up for the lack by
catching every hedgehog they can find.
The way the eagle does the job is in-
teresting, too.
Finding hedgehog browsing among
the clover of the meadows, he swoops
down upon the animal, and, digging his
talons into the nose of the beast, snatches
it aloft in the air before any defense car
be made.
"Once removed from the ground, thu
poor hedgehog has no defense, for hang
ing as it does, it cannot reach up t.
strike with its armed tail, SO 1t jus
wriggles about and gnashes its teetl
while the bird sails higher and higher
until they come over an exposed ledge
when the eagle let's go, and the hedge
hog droDs to the hard rocks and