The larger one, which I thus judged to be the female, while flying at a distance of perhaps one hundred yards, and at an equal elevation with myself, suddenly changed her course, and came at me straight as an arrow. With raised hatchet I

awaited the assault, but when within thirty feet her courage failed, and she turned sharply to one side and passed on.

I had hoped to find eggs, and determined to be at the nest on time for this another season. The next year the weather was stormy, and I was delayed until the fourteenth of the

same month.

The nest was again found to contain young. This time they were larger than those of the previous year. From tip to tip of wings they measured three and one half feet.

The feathers of the adult bird are dark brown, except the head, neck, and tail, which are white. On account of the white appearance of the head, so different from the back and wings, the bird might be thought at a distance not to have any head feathers. Hence, possibly, came the name by which it is usually known-the bald eagle. This white part of the plumage does not come until the bird is over two years old.

An eagle's foot is especially adapted to seizing and holding its prey. The muscles of the legs are so arranged that when the weight of the body is thrown on the foot, the long sharp claws are driven deep, and once they close on a victim there is no escape.

In mountainous regions bald eagles often build their nests on cliffs. In many places they are more or less destructive to lambs and young pigs.

Where the supply of fish, grouse, squirrels, or other natural prey is plentiful, domestic animals are seldom disturbed. Only once have I witnessed such a capture. An eagle carried off before my eyes a grown hen from a neighbor's barnyard.

They are especially fond of fish. These they usually procure by swooping down and snatching them from the water in their talons. It is also well known that they sometimes rob the ospreys of the fish which they have caught. There is, therefore, little neighborly love between the eagles and fish hawks of a community.

a-dult', full-grown.
ca-reer', course of life.

T. GILBERT PEARSON.

cleat, a strip of wood.
shrewd, sharp-witted.

T. GILBERT PEARSON, professor of biology and geology in the State Normal and Industrial College, Greensboro, North Carolina, is a lover of out-door life, and a close observer of nature. This story is from a delightful book called "Stories of Bird Life." Of this book Professor Pearson says: "Should the stories serve to give the reader a little more intimate acquaintance with our feathered neighbors of the field and woodland, my main object will have been accomplished."

[The story is used here by permission of the B. F. Johnson Company.]

THE EAGLE

He clasps the crag with hooked hands;
Close to the sun in lonely lands,
Ring'd with the azure world, he stands.

The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;
He watches from his mountain walls,
And like a thunderbolt he falls.

ALFRED TENNYSON.

THE LOYAL KNIGHT

Some centuries ago two kings were contending for the crown of Castile. We forget their names for the present; but to make easy the telling of my story, we shall call one Alfonso and the other John. Alfonso proclaimed, of course, that John was a usurper and a rebel, and John returned the compliment.

Well, John at last defeated his rival, horse and foot, and carried everything triumphantly before him, with the exception of a single town. This town had been intrusted by Alfonso

to a stout old knight called Aguilar, and after a long siege, still remained unconquered.

"You have done enough for honor," said King John one day to the knight; "surrender, and you shall have the most liberal

terms."

“If you had read the history of your country," answered Aguilar, "you would have known that none of my race ever surrendered."

“I will starve you, proud and obstinate fool.”

"Starve an eagle if you can.”

"I will put you and the whole garrison to the sword." “Try,” was the laconic reply, and the siege went on.

One morning, as the rising sun was beginning to gild with its rays the highest towers of the city, a parley sounded from the camp of the enemy. The old knight appeared on the wall, and looked down on the king below. "Surrender," said John again. My rival, Alfonso, is dead, and the whole of Castile recognizes my sway as that of its legitimate sovereign."

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“Sire, I believe you, but I must see my dead master."

"Go, then, to Seville, where his body lies. You have my royal word that I shall attempt nothing against you on your way; nor against the city in your absence.”

The knight came out with banner flying, and a small escort of grim-visaged warriors. Behind him the gates closed; before him the dense battalions of the enemy opened their ranks. As he passed along, slowly riding his noble war-horse, shouts of admiration burst wide and far from the whole host that had so often witnessed his deeds of valor, and the echoes of the loud and enthusiastic greeting accompanied him until the red plume that waved in his helmet was out of sight.

He arrived at Seville, and went straight to the Cathedral,