WHITE-TAILED SEA-EAGLE. 229 



and his magnificent wings spread out to their full extent, and 

 even seeming to curve upwards at the points, he sweeps along 

 the sides of the hills, advancing with apparently little effort, 

 and, should he spy a carcase, hovers over it in short curves until 

 satisfied as to his security should he alight upon it. Very fre- 

 quently he is led to the spot by seeing the Raven there, for that 

 bird is more quick-sighted than even the Eagle. On alighting, 

 he stands for a time, then clumsily leaps up to the carcase, 

 perches upon it, and begins to tear open the abdomen, the 

 eyes having already been removed by the Crows, Should a 

 dog come up, the eagle retires to a short distance, or sweeps 

 overhead, making a pretence of pouncing on the intruder, who, 

 while he allays his hunger, keeps an eye on the foe, and snarls 

 when threatened with a visitation. 



A beautiful sight it is, on some sunny day, when two Eagles 

 are seen floating lazily in the blue sky, far above the tops of 

 the brown hills. Slowly and majestically, with wide-spread 

 wings, they sail in wide circles, gradually ascending, until at 

 length you can scarcely perceive them. They may continue 

 this exercise for more than an hour, and should you enquire 

 the object of it, you may be satisfied that it is not for the pur- 

 pose of spying their prey, for no one ever saw an Eagle stoop 

 from such a height. On ordinary occasions, when proceeding 

 from one place to another, they fly in the usual manner, by 

 slowly repeated flaps. In the breeding season, should two 

 males encounter each other, they sometimes fight in the air, 

 throwing themselves into singular postures, and screaming 

 loudly. The cry of this species is so shrill, that in calm wea- 

 ther one may hear it at the distance of a mile, and it often 

 emits a kind of clear yelp, which resembles the syllable liicJc, 

 Mick, Mick, or qneek, qiieek, queek, and which seems to be the 

 expression of anger or impatience. 



In its own class, the Sea-Eagle has few enemies capable of 

 injuring it, the Golden Eagle being the only bird powerful 

 enough to contend with it eft'ectually ; but it is often molested 

 by the Raven, the larger Gulls, and sometimes by Hawks, 

 especially when it happens to come near their nests. On 

 this subject, Mr Dunn has the following statement : — " I 



