A Joke on the Eagle

Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, California · Apr 3, 1879

A Joke on the Eagle.

A GENTLEMAN who resides near one of the inlets of the Chesapeake Bay, while taking a walk by the water's edge, saw a fish-hawk rise from the water with a prize in its mouth. After getting a short distance inland, the hawk was attacked by an eagle, evidently waiting for a meal, and a quiet spectator of the fishing. Very soon the hawk dropped the fish, which the eagle catching in the air, flew away with, apparently disregarding the pangs of a guilty conscience. The next day the gentleman noticed a repetition of the fishing operation, and on the eagle's approach, as before, the hawk dropped its prey and disappeared. The eagle caught it in the air, but, strange enough, let it go, and it fell to the ground. Greatly interested, the gentleman concluded to go and examine the cause of the unusual conduct of the thieving "Emblem of Freedom." On reaching the spot he found the supposed fish to be a decayed bone.