320 THE BIRDS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



Its range extends eastward from the Baltic into Siberia and 

 central Asia, and in winter it is met with in southern Europe, 

 Africa and India. In western EurjDpe it is rare. 



It is in the immature dress, that of most if not all wanderers 

 to Britain, that the bird deserves its name " spotted " ; the 

 brown plumage is then spotted with huffish terminals and edges 

 to the feathers of the wing-coverts and inner secondaries, and 

 the under parts are marked with pale streaks. There is also a 

 patch of pale feathers on the nape which disappears with age. 

 In mature birds the plumage is rather darker than in the 

 Golden Eagle, and there is no barring on the tail ; the colour 

 of the soft parts is similar. It is, however, always a smaller 

 bird. Male : Length, 26' 5 ins. Wing, 20*5 ins. Tarsus, 3*9 ins. 

 Female: Length, 29 ins. Wing, 21*5 ins. Tarsus, 4*2 ins. 



White-tailed Eagle. Haliaetns albicUla (Linn.). 



Until recent years the W^hite-tailed Eagle (Plate 135) was 

 more abundant than the Golden Eagle in the British Isles ; 

 now it is a scarce resident, on the verge of extinction, in the 

 Shetlands and Outer Hebrides. Elsewhere it is an occasional 

 straggler in autumn and winter, and most of these wanderers 

 are immature. It breeds in Greenland, northern Europe and 

 Asia, and is known as a winter visitor to south Europe, north- 

 east Africa, India and Japan. Formerly the White-tailed 

 Eao-le occupied many eyries round our coasts and a few inland ; 

 it was found in the Lake Distrist, Isle of Man, Lundy and the 

 Isle of Wight, and until 1910 or thereabouts at least one eyrie 

 existed in Ireland, where it was at one time common. Speaking 

 generally of the Scottish coast, Dixon, ia 1882, said, " It will 

 probably^hold its own for many years to come, in spite of the 

 price set on its head." No doubt he referred to the determined 

 assaults of gillies and shepherds, but perhaps did not lake into 



