Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1913-03-24

| ptlt SlllttlS AOE DuSiUcSS. 10 sue
an enemy the bald eagle promptly
gives the field. and he takes no order
in his retreat-hs speed again gives
him the advantage
But the ospreys never quarrel
among themselves nor interfere with
each other; they are models of what a
dignified, strictly honest citizen should
be when among his kind Neither
have their inoffensive neighbors any
thing TO fear from them The shadow
of their comings and goings never
| bushes the songs in the thickets nor
| stops the feeding rabbit, but the
| thieNiSh crow gives their settlements
a wide berth. They keep the peace
| themselves and they force others to
| keep peace with them; in their ways
| they are wise, but you sometimes find
an osprey floating drowned. with his
| talons fastened in a dead catfish The
bird could not lift the fish from the
| water nor retract the curved talons,
| and so was drowned, while the fish
| was stabbed to the vitals and per
| ished also-the conquerer and his vic
| tim clasped together in death
| Now. the bald eagle chat gets busy
| on the water is SO clumsy as to be-
| come joke. Like an arrow he pur-
sues a duck, but as he strikes for
ward With his claws the duck plunges
into the water. The eagle rises and
darts at the ducks head when it comes
up for breath, and so the game IS
played. If a cover of plants ar bushes
can be found, the duck escapes: if not
the eagle finds it off guard and earns
a dinner. but the pursuit and capture
is such as to deny all our ideas as to
the majestic flight and lofty nature of
| The king of birds.
When the eagle tries to fish he
merely drops in the water and strikes
VfeiouslS 1t the living dinner he covcts,
although he has the example of the
osprey always before his eyes he
seems 10 follow the teaching of the
pelican as far as he can. but the
weapons are 50 different that the at
tempt at imitation is laughable. Al
ways, however, the bald eagle prefers
to feed with as little exertion as pos
sibie, and this may prove he is Il
gentleman To some even while he robs'
the flsh-haWk and eats carbon.
but the gray eagle, who follows the
locks Of geese and ducks as far south
as Alabama. scorns to be a scavcnger,
and is destructive TO sheep, according
to the traditions of his family oc-
caslonailS he is seen in Florida, and
sometimes nests in Alabama or Mis-
slSslppl If We wanted an ea"la for
our 1iag, we should have preferred the
osprey, Tor he has the virtues of do
mestlcity. of industry. and of bravery
as well=all these being denied 10 his
congener Of the white head If a moro
Warlike bird was to be preferred the
gray eagle fills the bill. ana majority
OF hawks and falcons, but Franklin
was Wisest. who asked that all thesr
be passed by and a turkey honorea as
being peculiar 10 America and free
ffoh the traditions of monarchical
honorS. Yet Of all known birds the
turkey seems In have least common
sense, and the foolish goose is u
philosopher by comparison.
Certainly few pictures are more in
cohsfGous than those drawn by fancy
and BY fact of the bird that has been
embiazoned on our flag ana is accepted
pN law as our national emblem. The
poet gives us one in this:
There's fierce gray bird with a bending
beak,
With an angry eye and startling shrek
Hat nurses her brood where the clin
flowers blow,
On the precipice top in perpetual snow.
he word picture is taken from the
books, which describe quite another
bird-We have such birds. but he is
not our baIdhead That angry eve is
too frequently dimmed by fear: the
shrek is but a weak whistle that calls
upon a mate fer assistance, and is
never a battle shout: the brood is
hursed in pine that offers proper
support for the nest al the conjunction
OF several branches. with no care for
an elevation above that Of safety, and
the parents never saw snow in the
Whole course of a life devoid of any
pfetense of usefulness, industry or
honor' but devoted to the service of
appetites in no whit superior To those
OF that turkey buzzard which is pro-
teeted by man as a general scavenger.
ne eagle has not even the enterprise
To pursue the ibiseS and cranes and
hefens that defile in ilocks before his
iaNoiltc perch; perhaps he fears their
bills, even those thai are least like
Dayonets. Seemingly its sole virtue
Is that of marital consistency. ana
mere If we may believe our foreign
critics, II fails most of all to deserve
the claim of fifty representing US
benJamin Harrison in the Florida
Times rniOn