s four
feet close together, arched his back like an angry cat, and then with
one immense bound, sprang forward upon his victim.

"The hare had only time to leap out of her form, and the second spring
of the lynx brought him right upon the top of her. I could hear the
child-like scream which the American rabbit always utters when thus
seized; but the cloud of snow-spray raised above the spot prevented me
for a while from seeing either lynx or hare. The scream was stifled in a
moment, and when the snow-spray cleared off, I saw that the lynx held
the hare under his paws, and that 'puss' was quite dead.

"I was considering how I might best steal up within shooting distance,
when, all at once, I heard another scream of a very different sort. At
the same time a dark shadow passed over the snow. I looked up, and
there, within fifty yards of the ground, a great big bird was wheeling
about. I knew it to be an eagle from its shape; and at first I fancied
it was a young one of the white-headed kind--for, as you are aware,
these do not have either the white head or tail until they are several
years old. Its immense size, however, showed that it could not be one of
these. It must be the great _'golden' eagle_ of the Rocky Mountains,
thought I.

"When I first noticed it, I fancied that it had been after the rabbit;
and, seeing the latter pounced upon by another preying creature, had
uttered its scream at being thus disappointed of its prey. I expected,
therefore, to see it fly off. To my astonishment it broke suddenly out
of the circles in which it had been so gracefully wheeling, and, with
another scream wilder than before, darted down towards the lynx!

"The latter, on hearing the first cry of the eagle, had started, dropped
his prey, and looked up. In the eagle he evidently recognised an
antagonist, for his back suddenly became arched, his fur bristled up,
his short tail moved quickly from side to side, and he stood with
glaring eyes, and claws ready to receive the attack.

"As the eagle came down, its legs and claws were thrown forward, and I
could then tell it was not a bald eagle, nor the great "Washington
eagle," nor yet a fishing eagle of any sort, which both of these are.
The fishing eagles, as Lucien had told me, _have always naked legs_,
while those of the true eagles are more feathered. So were his, but
beyond the feathers I could see his great curved talons, as he struck
forward at the lynx. He evidently touched and