It is not a bird of song, but is unsurpassed as a screamer. To the
common Kite, a plebeian member of the genus, has been ascribed an
attribute which in fact belongs exclusively to this Banner species. The
Kite, according to Dr. FRANKLIN, draws the lightning from the clouds,
but this, in reality, is the proud prerogative of the Great American
Eagle, the noblest of the falcon tribe, which may often be seen with a
sheaf of flashes in its talons, rushing through the skies as a lightning
express. It feeds on all the inferior birds, but its principal food is
the American Bunting, which it bears fluttering aloft in its powerful
mandibles. Strange to say, its feats with the electric fluid, and its
fondness for the Bunting, have not been noticed by any of the great
naturalists; but as innumerable artists have depicted the bird in the
very act of scattering the one and carrying off the other, the omission
is not, practically, of the slightest consequence.
The habitat of the Birdofreedom was originally limited to about twelve
degrees of latitude, but being like the Imperial Eagle of Italy (now
extinct,) given to Roam, it has within the last fifty years greatly
enlarged the area of its feeding grounds.
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