File:The birds of America - from drawings made in the United States and their territories (1840) (14562416277).jpg

Identifier: birdsofamericafr01audu (find matches)
Title: The birds of America : from drawings made in the United States and their territories
Year: 1840 (1840s)
Authors: Audubon, John James, 1785-1851 Bowen, John T., ca. 1801-1856?, lithographer
Subjects: Birds Birds
Publisher: New York : Published by J.J. Audubon Philadelphia : J.B. Chevalier
Contributing Library: Smithsonian Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library

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se. The nest of this noble species is always placed on an inaccessible shelf ofsome rugged precipice,—never, that I am aware of, on a tree. It is of greatsize, flat, and consists merely of a few dead sticks and brambles, so bare attimes that the eggs might be said to be deposited on the naked rock. Theyare generally two, sometimes three, having a length of 3^ inches, and adiameter at the broadest part of 2^. The shell is thick and smooth, dullwhite, brushed over, as it were, with undefined patches of brown, which aremost numerous at the larger end. The period at which they are deposited,is the end of February or the beginning of March. I have never seen theyoung when newly hatched, but know that they do not leave the nest untilnearly able to provide for themselves, when their parents drive them off fromtheir home, and finally from their hunting grounds. A pair of these birdsbred on the rocky shores of the Hudson for eight successive years, and inthe same chasm of the rock. ::; PI 12
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I ■ ■ .S.K.I.: 1,uh.1 Print-a ScCol?bv 1 V.tioweri Pintail: THE GOLDEN EAGLE. 51 Their notes are harsh and sharp, resembling at times the barking of a clog,especially about the breeding season, when they become extremely noisy andturbulent, flying more swiftly than at other times, alighting more frequently,and evincing a fretfulness which is not so observable after their eggs are laid. They are capable of remaining without food for several days at a time, andeat voraciously whenever they find an opportunity. Young fawns, racoons,hares, wild turkeys, and other large birds, are their usual food, and theydevour putrid flesh only when hard pressed by hunger, none alighting oncarrion at any other time. They are nice in cleaning the skin or pluckingthe feathers of their prey, although they swallow their food in large pieces,often mixed with hair and bones, which they afterwards disgorge. They aremuscular, strong, and hardy, capable of bearing extreme cold without injury,and of pursuing

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