Kankakee Valley Post, Volume 1, Number 11, DeMotte, Jasper County, 6 October 1932 — Had a Poor Opinion of the “Bald” Eagle [ARTICLE]

Had a Poor Opinion of the “Bald” Eagle

Although the great naturalist, John James Audubon, expressed admiration for the American or white-head-ed eagle, also known as the bald eagle, because of its great strength, daring and cool courage, and its unequaled power of flight, he was of the opinion that its undesirable qual ities were so many that the selection of this bird as our national emblem was an unhappy choice. In this he expressed agreement with Benjamin Franklin, as is indicated in the following, taken from Audubon’s “An Account of the Habits of the birds of the United States of America.” “In concluding this account of the white-headed eagle, suffer me, kind reader, to say how much I grieve that it should have been selected as the emblem of my country. The opinion of our great Franklin on this subject, as it perfectly coincides with my own, I shall here present to you. ‘For my part,’ says he, in one of his letters, ‘I wish the bald eagle had not been chosen as the representative of our country. He is a bird of bad moral character; he does not get his living honestly; you may have seen him perched on some dead tree, where, too lazy to fish for himself, he watches the labor of the fishing hawk; and when that diligent bird has at length taken a fish, and is bearing it to his nest for the support of his mate and young ones, the bald eagle pursues him, and takes it from him. With all this injustice, he is never in good caste, but, like those among men who live by sharping and robbing, he is generally poor, and often very lousy. Besides, he is a rank coward; the little king bird, not bigger than a sparrow, attacks him boldly, and drives him out of the district.’”