FALCONID^. — HALIiETUS ALBICILLA. 47 



HALIiETUS ALBICILLA. 



Vidtur albicilla, Linn. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 123. 

 Falco ossifraga, " " " " 124. 



Falco melanatos, " " " " " 



Falco albicilla, Bewick, Brit. Birds, I, 1804, 9. 



" " Penn. Brit. Zool. 1, 209. 



" " Temm. Man. d'Orn. I, 1820, 49. 



" " Montagu, Orn. Diet. 1831. 



" " Yaerell, Hist. Brit. Birds, I, 1839, 15. 



Aqiiila albicilla, Flem. Brit. An. p. 53. 



" " Jenyns, Brit. Vert. An. p. 80. 



Halicclus grmnlandicus, Brehni, Vog. Deuts. I, 1831, 16. 

 HalicBtics albicilla, Selby, Brit. Orn. I, 18. 



" « Gould, Birds of Europe, I, 1832, pi. x. 



" " Cassin, Syn. N. A. Birds (lUust. Birds of Cal.), 1854, p. Ill, 



VuLG. — The Gray Sea-Eagle. The European Sea-Eagle. The White-tailed Eagle. The 

 Cinereous Eagle. The Erne. Cinereous Sea-Eagle. The Sea-Eagle. Aigle pygargue. 



I HAVE not included this among my illustrations of tlie eggs of North American 

 species, because I have no specimen actuallj^ obtained upon this continent. Indeed, 

 its claims to be included in our Fauna rest only upon its supposed existence in the 

 neutral ground of Greenland. L have, however, deemed it best to include a brief 

 description of the markings of its eggs, with some account of its mode of breeding. 

 Further knowledge may possibly authorize us to add it to our list of American 

 birds. 



The Sea-Eagle of Europe, as its name implies, frequents the sea-coast of the northern 

 portions of that continent, and is rarely found inland. It builds its nest on rocky cliffs 

 projecting over the water, on the shores of Scotland, the Orkney and Shetland Islands, 

 Norway, Eussia, &c. The nest is constructed of sticks, or, where these are not con- 

 venient, of sea-weed. The eggs are two or three in number. Their ground color is a 

 clear white, usually unmarked, but occasionally stained with small, faint spots of 

 light-brown. The measurements of two in my collection, both from Scotland, but 

 obtained at different times by H. F. Walter, Esq. of London, are as follows : length 

 2{l inches, breadtli 2^^ inches; length 23-2^, breadth 2^% inches. 



The following, in relation to their breeding and distribution, is taken from Mr. 

 Yarrell's excellent work on the Birds of Great Britain : — 



" The White-tailed Eagle builds its nest on high rocks, and lays two eggs, about 

 the same size of those of the Golden Eagle, but with very little or no red color on 

 the Avhite ground. The yomig are at first coA^ered with a soiled-white down ; and 

 even at this age, the beaks and claws of the eaglets are of very large size. A pair 

 of Golden Eagles have been known to rear their young in the same spot for eight 

 seasons in succession ; and Mr. Mutlie has mentioned, that, being thus attached to a 

 particular locality, their young, when able to provide for themselves, are driven away 

 by the parent birds to get their living elsewhere ; but the more erratic ■^^^lite-tailed 



