I've been seeing a lot of eagles recently, thanks to my wife Amy's obsession with various webcams that are locked on eagle nests (or, to be accurate, aeries) as eagle couples take turns tending to their eggs and filling their nests with gross, dead things. Amy is all about the eagles.

The bald eagle is, of course, our national symbol. You've probably heard the chestnut about how Ben Franklin greatly preferred the wild turkey (bird, not bottle) over the bald eagle. It's not that Franklin was such a huge turkey fan, it's just that he didn't hold the eagle in very high esteem, saying:

“For my own part I wish the Bald Eagle had not been chosen 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 near the River, where, too lazy to fish for himself, he watches the Labour 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 case but like those among men who live by sharping & 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. He is therefore by no means a proper emblem for the brave and honest Cincinnati of America who have driven all the King birds from our country…

“I am on this account not displeased that the Figure is not known as a Bald Eagle, but looks more like a Turkey. For the Truth the Turkey is in Comparison a much more respectable Bird, and withal a true original Native of America… He is besides, though a little vain & silly, a Bird of Courage, and would not hesitate to attack a Grenadier of the British Guards who should presume to invade his Farm Yard with a red Coat on.”

Whether Ben Franklin was spot-on in his character assessment of the bald eagle is really for you to decide.

You may disagree with Ben, but when was the last time you heard about cops having to break up a street brawl between turkeys?

 

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