40 HILL BIRDS OF SCOTLAND 



immature Sea Eagles : The foot of the Golden Eagle has 

 the tarsus clothed and each toe covered with small reticula- 

 tions as far as the last phalanx. In the foot of the White- 

 tailed Eagle, on the other hand, the reticulations are 

 confined to the tarsus. 



I should be reluctant to bring this chapter to an end 

 without putting forward an earnest request to all nature 

 lovers, and to all lovers of the remote hill places, that they 

 should see the Golden Eagle is always afforded protection. 

 He is, without doubt, the finest representative of bird 

 life in these islands, and I am sure that without his dark, 

 inscrutable presence the glens and corries of the hill 

 country would appear lonely and desolate indeed. 



