January, 1879.
THE WEST SHORE.
water seas, their snores barely produoing Aretio
willows and sages.
At present the warm strata of air are found
high up the mountains melting the few, short
glaciers away nearly to their founts. When an
increase occurs that shall melt them and the
Men (If Office all away, and there remains no
morn nornetual snow and ice to koon snrinira and
rivers alive in summer; the parched plains being
mantled by a torrid substratum of moisturelees
air, the poor inhabitants of earth, if living by the
same means as we exist now, may sigh for the
return of the almost unknown and totally un
appreciated boon a condition of climate that
admits of glaciers.
THE BIRD OF AMERICA.
The White-headed, but incorrectly called
liald Eagle, is well known to every one as the
emblem of the United States. Many, however
have false ideas of its real appearance and
habits, obtained chiefly from unnatural figures
and fictitious storios, so we have reproduced
here the excellent illustration from life made
or the "Ornithology of California," published
liy the legislature in 1870, giving also a short
account of its natural history from the most
authentic son roes.
The colors of old birds of both sexes are dark
chocolate, or blackish brown, the feathers paler
at edges, the head and tail pure white, bill and
feet yellow. length, 30 to 43 inohes ; extent
of wings, 78 to 88 inches ; wing, 20 to 2(1 inches;
tail, 11 to 1 ..', inchos; the female being con
siderably the largest (as in all birds of prey),
and l'ncitie coast birds are larger than eastern
or southern. The young in tho first year is
nearly uniform black, the feathers afterward
growing out paler, and white near their base,
every year becoming more white on head and
tail, until the fourth vear when those parts be
come entirely white. This ohange with age has
led many to suppose that there were several
kinds, esneoiallv as young birds often show
white Hatches on the bodv.
Such a ahowv and noble-looking bird of
course attracted the attention of the first Ku
roiuian visitors to America, north of Mexico,
where it is not known to exist,. Its white head
diatimui.huil it from the verv similar white
tailed eagle of Europe and Greenland, lending
the celebrated Linnaius to adopt for its aoienti
lie name the (ireek word for White-headed,
which, combined with the generic title of the
Fishing Eagles, makes that used by naturalists
m all enlightened countries since won, nameiy
Hitliatu Uueotfvhnlut.
About 177f! Conoreas adonted it as the em
Mom for our coins, and other national devioes,
. Hi.- :i,lvi.-.. ,.f that iiractical uhiloaophor,
1 ranklin, who thought that a bird which lived
in great part by robbing the industrious fish
hawk and killing defenceless lambs was un
worthy of such an honor, advising that the
honest and useful turkey should be adopted in
its place, being also an American bird. This
v, ..,,1.1 li.ua luu.li ....rl.x.u . . a, tt irollriato M
the barnyard fowl of France, but the admirers
oi the l Ionian cmtuera, ami we oignineo impe,.
of the eagle, prevailed though it hat been
recently supposed that the bird on coins may
represent something quite different, almost any
thing between vulture and owl in fact, perhaps
ivarying with the baseness or intrinsic value or
the metal.
Thi. Kiwi inhabits the whole of North Ameri
ca, except Mexico and southward, where other
kinds occur. It leavca only the extreme nor
thern shores in winter, remaining wherever it
can obtain fish from unfroxen waters, or smso
animals and birds near the forests. It is, how
ever, a buy bird, never diving for fish or puiu
ng game when it can find them dead or dis
abled, and therefore watching the fish-hawk
and the hunters to share what it can capture
with their aid. It flight is heavy and slow
compared with some birds of prey, whioh to
some extent excuses it for "sponging" on
others ; but it has been soen at times to fly with
great swiftness, capturing the flying fish in its
snori course ovor the wavos, ami certainly is
swifter thau the laborious fish-hawk. At time
it is forced to dive for fish, circling round high
in mo air until it sees oue near the surface, and
then plunging like a bullet headlong to tho
water, though it does not go beneath it, hut
seizes the fish in its long, sharp olaws. It also
picks up dead ones and injured birds in the same
way, while at times it varies its fare by hunting
ground squirrels, etc., watching fur them from
the air or a tree.
The California Indians, and, to soma degree,
the Spanish population, held this bird sacred,
and formerly it was a numorous species, allowed
to live around tho ranohos as a useful tenant, on
account of killing many squirrels, though it
might occasionally capture a weak lamb or pig.
Instances have been published of infants heiug
carried off by th is eagle, bu t loss of ten than by the
fiercer and stronger golden eagle. Nowadays,
as every schoolboy is allowed to carry a gun and
hums', of Ciitotrxt r Taam The Compin
Kmlnt of the French Academy of Solano con
tains an interesting note by M. 1'lanohon on th
subject of the disease at present prevailing
among the chestnuts of the Cevenuca, and
which is probably identical with that noticed
in the Basses. Pyrenees and In upper Italy, The
ohief symptom visible outwardly is th decay
of the extremities of the branches, sometimes
one after another, and aometiiuos all at onoa, la
which latter oases the tree quickly dies, though
in others it may hut la a more or less dlaeaaed
state for two or three yean. This gradual or
sudden death of the branches. M. IHanohoa
found to lie onnaequent on an alteration of th
roots. If these lie laid bare parts of tho wood
and bark of the larger and miodle-siud on am
seen to lie softened as if by a kind of gangrene,
ami a fluid axudes from their tissues which,
owing to its containing tannin, forma au
ink with the iron in th soil, and slams th
earth round about for a considerable distance.
The roots thus affected, from the smallest radl
oles to the largeet trunks, are characterised by
the const nut presence of a mycelium or fungus
which assumes various forms, hut which always
Oil
THE WHITE HEADED
shoot what he can, there is no danger of eagles
becoming too plenty.
The nests of this eagle were formerly very
oommon here, built often in some tall sycamore
and large enough to mi a
AMKIlll'AN KAUMC.
iu th
on th trunk of the ire.
ii r
being composed oi largo svm...,...
feet long, piled together year .&"g
the mass was five feet thick, having a l ttU cavity
i 1 with a lew ei.sis oi ,
this are laid two to four
BubatKiutsitlv
sun form that it was preecat on th
iimlrmround norlloii of It. It generally lift-
sent itself in th (arm of more or las ramified
wl,
allied
havoc witli fir
Ills iioeu in wie lorm sssi tr
I.iti.h yellow string, and is probably olus.1
had to th Aifitrima mtlUat, which play each
How to Huoaa a Fira A erre.tideni of
th New York give the subjoined informa
tion To tho who are attached to th pip,
it may h a matter of latorsat to know h w
their Uat puff or draft of amoks may b a Iresh
as th first. It la wall known that aamhing la
Urn usual manner th lat pnrtloa of the Inbaeou
btnooMe damp by pre nn of oil or aieotiue
drawn from th heated kibeooo abe, which
nausea a aioketiing anil nauseating effect, bitter
to the taste, unpleasant and enhealthy, a earn-
aired to the tirst half of a well III led pip. Th
following I have foaad to bs ssTsotasI la giving
me a aonii, Iresh smoke iroai nrst so wet: rases
s small quantity of tobaaae la th bottom of the
tassat huh! it. and when well afire, fill the imim
g birds I and before each draft gtv a light patT outward
Y... ... throuuh th.stem. who h causes the tolasaeo to
hsv. often been rei"l iron. w. -, - M . MMwt. This
always Tkl " m"klD
though they were foTtajrly W "EK LtM. A atlU Water way woaU b
th. ranch, going m "lalaU-
and returning at night,
.1 I lie tOII
71 t. .1... are laid tWO U four eggS
nearly lllv rounded a. bath ends, whitlaK
rough, and from two and one half to three
P d tk.. .r. laid from January to
T.VT.:Zlin, to climate, th. binl nesting
. " i a:... I- f ... Utitll.lr PiM',
'XiX V7where tree, are al-en,
the nest is often built on a cliff, but pin. Ires
Ire th. usual kind .elected .
The title Of fi.hmg eagle. HJ tb lead
ei,,t or air, other foreign k,. ids,
"f . li-roe manner. Youn
t.HKl II. wr in - - . ,
way would be nut to saw