PAGE TEN
| The American Eagle j
By J. L. WIGGINS
There ia a vital connection between
the Bald Eagle and American idealism.
I think perhaps our pioneer forefath
ers who hewed this great country out
of a wilderness and came into closer
contact with eagles than we today,
gathered some of their inspiration and
love of liberty from this noble bird
As an evidence of this fact, on July
4th of 1778 the Continental Congress
appointed a committee to decide on a
Great Seal for the new country. It
took Benjamin Franklin, John Adams,
Thomas Jefferson and others six years
to agree that the American Bald
Eagle was the appropriate symbol,
Franklin objected, preferring the tur
key but Franklin was over-ruled and
the Eagle won.
Since that time artists and crafts
men have carved, molded, painted and
printed the Eagle in many designs.
The Eagle in some form runs through
every phase of our National life and
is viewed daily by more Americans
than any other picture or emblem.
If the average person would dip
into their pockets or bill-folds, they
would probably find half of the coins
or bills in their possession emblazoned
with its heroic figure.
Our National emblem is the king of
all birds as it embodies and represents
the spirit of liberty and freedom which
has made our country great.
The American Bald Eagle builds a
rough flat nest with sticks at the
bottom, grass and soft fiber inside.
They lay from two to three dull white
eggs about three inches long. The
grown Eagles weigh from 15 to 20
pounds and some of them standing
are three feet tall. The head, neck
and tail are white and the rest of
the feathers and plumage are of a
brownish color. Eagles live to be as
much as 100 years old.
They nest in the springtime in the
tallest tree available, as a rule sur
rounded by water. Each year after
the young Eaglets are hatched and
the parent birds think they are old
enough to fly, they the old nest
apart to make the young birds lea:n
to fly, and if sometimes they cannot
do so, the old birds swoop down un
derneath the Eaglets, allowing thejn
to light on their backs and prevent
them from falling to the ground.
When the young Eaglets are old
enough to care for themselves, they
go off and find a location of their
own.
Eagles are birds of prey and gather'
their food from both land and water.
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They feed mostly on fish and ?mall
game, but are not true fishermen
themselves. They sit on an observa
tion post in a tree or broken snag and
wait until an Osprey or fish hawk
catches a fish, then they go for the
real fisherman and when they crowd
him too hard, the other bird drops
the fish and the Eagle swoops down
and catches the prize before it strikes
tJie water.
On one occasion I witnessed a des
perate effort on the part of a large
Eagle as a hunter for his food. White
out hunting with a friend on the
shores of Albemarle Sound, we saw a
wood-duck sitting on the bank screen
ed by Myrtle bushes. On our approach
it took alarm and flew out in the
sound for a distance of about 300
yards. At the same time we saw a
large Eagle swooping down on the
duck just before making contact, the
duck dived emerging from the water
about twenty feet distant. The Eagle,
in the meantime, had alighted on a
pound net rtake nearby and went for
the duck again, both pursuing the
same process as before. They con
tinued for a half hour or more until
the Eagle became exhausted and flew
away in disgust missing a good meal.
The Bald Eagles of John’s Island
There is a swampy wilderness area
near Edenton, N. C., consisting of 2,-
000 acres bounded on the North by
Federal Highway No. 17, on the East
by Edenton Bay, on the South by Al
bemarle Sound and on the West by
Chowan River. This area is known as
John’s Island and is heavily timbered
with pine poplar, cypress, gum and
juniper. In the center of this- swamp,
and overlooking the three waterways
mentioned above, stands a huge cy
press tree which is perhaps 300 or
more years old. For the past fifty
years, and perhaps running back many,
many years before, two large Bald
Eagles have annually nested in this
tree and reared their young.
Early each spring, these Eagles can
be seen in a field near the swamp
gathering dried grass and straw to re
build their nest, carrying off loads
of grass as large as a pillow with
their feet. I have seen these Eagles
at a very close range when they were
standing and also in flight, and their
' wing spread I would judge to measure
i from four to five feet.
I can imagine that Eagles and their
offspring have been nesting and rear
ing their young on John’s Island since
the first large tree grew there and
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in
THE CHOWAN HERALD EDENTON, N. q, THURSDAY. FEBRUARY 22, 1951
i the whole of America was a wilder
ness.
In connection with this article I
| want to relate an episode that happen
-1 ed on John’s Island which occured in
1 the year 1907 and |puld be entitled,
“Henry Ferrand and Hie Bald Eagle.”
Henry, a Negro, was a very comical
and amusing character, botn in man
ners of speech and actions. He was
; also a logger by trade, and at th s
1 time was cutting logs on the west
, side of Edenton Bay. The large
trees he cut into 16-foot lengths and
rolled the logs out of the swamp on
skids to the water, sometimes for a
distance leading into the swamp of
500 yards. This system of logging is
, called bull-hunching. While at work
, Henry saw a large Bald Eagle sitting
t on his observation post near the wa
ter waiting for an Osprey to catch a
L fish. He conceived the idea that he
, wanted to capture a real live Eagle, as
he liked to do things d(ut of the ordi
nary, so he set a steel trap on the top
, of the Eagle’s perch and caught a
large eagle by the toes of one foot.
. The late John C. Bond and I learned
from a small boy that Henry Ferrand
[ was down at the County dock with
. a large live Bald Eagle that he had
, caught on John’s Island. Major Bond
and I were both interested in Eagles,
I so we immediately went down to the
dock and found Henry with the Eagle,
bound wings and feet with a stout
rope. Henry was as proud of his catch
i as one of the Gladiators of old was af
ter returning from battle, but he had
dearly bought the victory over the
1 Eagle, for he showed the marks of
1 battle all over his head, face, hands
- and body and his clothing was torn
! into shreds and tatters. The Eagl"
j had put up a brave fight, with his
1 wings and good foot before being sub
dued. Although Henry was bleed 1 ng
profusely, he was prouder of his vic
tory over the Eagle than Washington
1 was at Yorktown and said he was go
' ing to put him in a cage and exhibit
him to show his valor in subduing an
f Eagle. Major Bond and I pled with
, Henry to release the noble bird, but
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he would hot consent until we gave
him four dolldhs.
We then cut the rapes that bound
the Eagle; he looked at us and sat
stUl for a moment, then winged his
way straight to his habitat on John’s
Island.
This happened forty-three years
ago and since then both Major Bond
and Henry have passed on, but I hope
that that Eagle, is one of those I
have seen many times since, out in the
fields gathering grass for a nert.
In after years Major Bond and I
often discussed this episode, and we
were happy to know that we were the
means of giving back to an Ameri
can Eagle his freedom.
t
March 1 Is Deadline
For War Prisoner Pay
World War II veterans who were
prisoners of war, or their widows,
children, or parents must file claim
by March , 1951, for the SI.OO per day
ration money due them while interned
in enemy prison camps. The final date,
March Ist, was fixed by law and can
not be changed by the War Claims
Commission. If you or a member of
your family were held as a prisoner
of war during World War 11, you may
be entitled to these POW benefits.
Official military records list more
than 138,000 members of Hie U. S.
Armed Forces as prisoners of war.
The War Claims Commission esti
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gitimate claims which have not been
filed. It is most urgent that these
claimants be informed of their rights
and file claim without delay.
Official claim forms and assistance
in filing the claim can be secured at
the Chowan County Veterans Service
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young people’s meeting at 6:30 P. M.;
‘ evening service at 7:80 olclock.
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