THE WHITE-TAILED EAGLE 137 



it was once even more plentiful than in England, 

 extermination progressing northwards, and natur- 

 ally becoming slower in wild and remote areas far 

 from the haunts of men. Eyries were situated on 

 Ailsa Craig, the Bass Rock, and in Galloway and 

 Dumfriesshire. In Ireland this bird was formerly 

 widely dispersed, but trap, gun, and poison (to say 

 nothing of the rascally collector) have done their 

 work only too welL and its numbers have been 

 greatly reduced. Scattered eyries exist at the 

 present time in some of the wilder western districts. 

 In Scotland the chief stronghold of the White- 

 tailed Eagle is amongst the Hebrides — in Skye 

 particularly, also in Eigg, Scalpa, North Uist, 

 Benbecula, the Shiant Islands, Rum, and Canna. 

 Formerly the bird bred on St. Kilda ; but the 

 natives of those lonely isles will not tolerate such 

 a formidable-looking species, and it is ruthlessly 

 destroyed. Farther north it breeds on the Orkneys 

 and Shetlands, but we very much doubt if a single 

 eyrie is now inhabited anywhere on the mainland 

 of Scotland. As this Eagle is a resident in the 

 British Islands, the individuals of the species now 

 dwelling in them are all that we are ever likely to 

 receive, and it behoves us to see that the remnant 

 of the indigenous stock is strictly preserved. This 



