Bird Stories

His home had been a famous landmark for generations before he himself had fallen heir to it. It was the oldest one in the nei

it in such repair that it was still as good as ever. It would last, indeed, with such treatment, as long as the post and the beams that supported it held. The post was the trunk

path that led to it; for was he not a lord of the air, and cou

ures of this great la

e of pride even as he rested. It could not have been the honor men had bes

s, the people of a great and noble land, reaching from a sea on the east to a sea on the west, had honored Uncle Sam by choosing him for the emblem of their country. His picture was stamped on their paper money, and ornamented one side of

ever since the day their little bodies had begun to form in the two bluish white eggs their mother had laid in the nest. They had stayed inside those shells for a month; and they never could have lived and grown there if they had not been brooded and kept warm. Their

henever there were eggs in the nest, he was as patient about brooding them as she was; for did

y flight to the lake. For he was a fisherman. When a fish came to the surface, he would try to catch it in his strong claws, so that he might have food to take back to his waiting family. This

ish from the water in his sure claws. But for all that, he was

ee-Doodl

n the hawk mounted with the prize, Uncle Sam flew far above him and swept downward, commanding him to drop the fish. The smaller bird obeyed, and let the fish fall from his claws. But it never fell far. Uncle Sam close

elong to the ospre

power of greater strength, took aw

call Uncle Sam a

s not with an eagle

are made to live, and that is all that concerns them. There is nothing for bird or beast or blossom to learn a

ust as much as it would belong to you if you caught it with a net or a hook. Yes, the fish belonged to the osprey more than it would belong to you; for ospreys hunted food for themselves and for their young in that lake centuries and centuries before a white man even saw it, and before nets and hooks were invented; and be

on the keenness of his sight, his strength, his quickness, and his skill; and the fish that belonged first to i

joy their dinner very, very much, indeed. A fresh brook trout, browned just right,

the young eagles became, the bigger their appetites were, too. But at last the youngsters were old enough and strong enough and brave enough to take their first flight. Think of them, then,

ing their muscles for days? And surely the twins would succeed, w

of men were flying, too. Yes, it was practice day near the lake, and across the water airships rose from the camp and sailed through the air, like mighty birds m

"Emblem of my country!" the young man said. "King of the air in your strong flight! Great deeds

ant airships, so big and strong, and led his family away to quieter places, without knowing at all what the big birds were,

nts for every eagle they would kill, and that in two years about five thousand of these noble birds were to die in that manner. He did not know that, if such deeds kept on, before many years there would be no eagles flying proudly through the air: there would be only pictures of eagles on our money and banners. If he could h

atters, and so he busied his mind with

ere were so many of them that hunters with guns and dogs gathered there from all the country round. And

them for food as with fish. Of course their feathers had to be picked off first. No eagle would eat a duck wi

nd Aunt Samantha and the twins were satisfied with

he was able to carry it away. Perhaps he felt very proud as he flew off with so much food at one time. Such strength is somethi

d he did not falter once in his steady flight, although the load weighed

unting and happy with what he had caught; and th

o be coming out of the woods just in time to see the capture; and an hour later the boy and

f," he said; "do you know which way

his fists together very still and very tight. The g

she said, "and w

ok the lamb I was going to r

r. The eagles here usually eat fish from the lake, and sometimes game from the swamp; but once in a very, very long while they take

hurt his throat and said, "If you had shot Uncle Sam or Aunt Samantha or their young, the children for miles and miles NEVER would ha

the girl came back, the man did not charge so much for Uncle

r, and that he had been saved by a boy and a girl who were growing up "under the shadow of an eagl

ncle Sam is laughing." And when his mate answered in her harsh voice, th

them to live, the twins grew up a

y had no fish-line and tackle, but they caught fish in the lake. And in time they caught fish in the air, too; which was even more thrilling, and a game they came to enjoy when they overtook the ospreys. Many times, too, they sought the fish that had been washed

first, too, their eyes were brown, and not yellow like their father's and mother's. And for two years their heads and

eason brought a remarkable change to them. The dark feathers of their heads and necks and tails dropped out, and in their places white feathers grew, so that by th

r when they took their first flights together near the shore of the same lake. And perhaps they will live to a time when the people of their country l

a, should they not nest again, and yet again, in that tree-top home that has been so well taken care of for more than t