48 HILL BIRDS OF SCOTLAND 



two male birds are not frequent. On one occasion, how- 

 ever, two Sea Eagles fought over a loch, and after a time 

 both combatants fell to the water. Whether the bird 

 which struck the water first was dead before its fall cannot 

 be stated definitely ; certain it is that the upper of the 

 two birds flew off apparently uninjured, while the lower 

 floated lifeless on the surface of the loch. 



The powers of flight, too, of the Sea Eagle are, perhaps, 

 also inferior to those of the Golden Eagle. This fact was 

 noticed by Aristotle, for he observes that the Sea Eagle's 

 flight is weak on account of a shade which crosses the eye. 

 This statement caused Aldrovandus to examine the eye, 

 and he discovered that the portion of the pupil which is 

 commonly covered only with the cornea is in the White- 

 tailed Eagle lined with an exceedingly delicate membrane 

 that has actually the appearance of a small spot. 



More fanciful was the statement made by Pliny, to the 

 effect that Sea Eagles breed small vultures, which in their 

 turn engender greater vultures. It is comforting to be told 

 that these latter have not the power of propagation. In 

 more recent times Buffon believed in the mating of the 

 Sea Eagle with the Osprey, though I do not think recent 

 investigations have borne out this belief. 



Albino Sea Eagles have been noted from time to time. 

 In 1879 such a White Sea Eagle was seen in the Shetlands. 

 The fact is of interest, for as I write — 1914 — one of the last 

 remaining representatives in our islands is a white speci- 

 men — in all probability the same bird as that noticed 

 thirty-five years ago, for she is now of such a great age that, 

 her last clutch of eggs proving infertile, her mate left her, 

 and she now haunts her former nesting site alone, appear- 

 ing like a gigantic gull as she takes wing and soars leisurely 

 out over the sea. 



Like the Osprey, the Sea Eagle has a wide range 

 throughout Europe. In Iceland it is resident, though 



