THE BIRDS OF IONA AND MULL. 



The Golden Eagle. 



Eagles are much less numerous now than they appear to have been 

 a generation ago, judging from the numerous deserted eyries which 

 have been pointed out to me by the older natives, among the precipi- 

 tous cliffs of the south and west coast of Mull, as having been once 

 tenanted yearly by pairs of eagles. The increased number of guns, 

 and the ruthless war waged by shepherds against the larger birds of 

 prey in these later days, sufficiently account for their disappearance, as 

 sheep-farming extends into the districts once left to solitude and them. 

 Still an occasional eagle may be seen pursuing his lofty course over the 

 moors and mountains of Mull and the surrounding islands. A friend, 

 a few years ago, killed one out of a party of seven, a number which 

 would have been thought deeply significant in the days when augury 

 was a fashionable science. In Jura a pair flew close over my head as 

 I, with a friend and a gamekeeper, were lunching, with our arms piled 

 at a little distance. As we took them for herons, which are very 

 numerous there, we made no attempt to demolish them, till they sailed 

 slowly past without deigning to notice us, leaving us gazing after them 

 open-mouthed. 



The White-tailed or Sea Eagle. 

 Gaelic, Iolair. 

 " Iolair-slmil na grein," the eagle eye of the sun. — Ossian's Tcmora. 



The same remarks apply to the sea eagle as to the last. Though 

 not an unusual sight to see an eagle flying in the heavens, I never had 



