34 NATUllAL HISTORY [Birds. 



" herrie ; and they all put the same to the bailzie, and the 

 " bailzie shall be holden to present the head of the said earne 

 " at the head court." 



Species 3. — The Erne. 



Pjgargus, or White-tailed Eagle, fFi/. Orn,G\. Rail Syn. Jv.7. Pygargus 

 Hihnularius, an Erne, Sib. Scot. 14. Vultur Albiulia, Lin. St/s. 123. The 

 Erne, Brit. Zool. I. J 31. tab. 3. 



Tins species I only lately discovered in the Orkneys, 

 though it is resident in them, and brings forth its young there. 

 The description is as follows : Bill yellow, long, and crooked 

 at the point, the upper chap falling much over the lower ; 

 the cere yellow ; the head, neck, and shoulders ash-coloured, 

 or rather inclining to gray ; where the throat and breast are 

 joined, the gray is variegated with, several blackish-brown 

 blotches ; the belly dark-coloured ; the feet a bright yellow, 

 unfeathered, with strong claws ; the back and wings almost 

 black, especially the quill-feathers of the latter; the wings 

 themselves very strong and long ; the rump of the cock very 

 dark-coloured ; the tail, especially in the male, of a very pure 

 white. A pair of these birds build their nests in the Black- 

 Craig of Stromness, and I am told have done so these many 

 years, none* else of the kind offering to disturb that spot, 

 which these have chosen for their retreat. 



* This is an old observation, that the eagles maintain their right to that spot 



