53 



HALIAETUS ALBICILLA. 



THE WHITE-TAILED SEA-EAGLE. 



Of the' adult male and female, the plumage of the 

 head, neck, breast, and back, pale brown tinged with 

 grey ; of the abdomen and legs chocolate brown ; the 

 bill, feet, and irides, yellow. Of the young the plum- 

 age pale brown, with elongated spots of deep brown ; 

 the tail dark brown, irregularly variegated with white ; 

 the bill brownish-black ; the irides brown ; the feet yel- 

 low. The tips of the folded wings reaching to the end 

 of the tail. 



Male. — This species, the only one of the genus that 

 occurs in Britain, where it is known by the names of 

 Erne, Cinereous Eagle, Sea Eagle, and White-tailed 

 Eagle, is a bird of great size, robust constitution, and 

 imposing aspect, although less elegant than the Golden 

 Eagle, and inferior in courage and activity to many of 

 the smaller species of the tribe. The bill is more elon- 

 gated than that of H. leucocephalus, with the tip' less 

 prolonged ; but its general form may be sufficiently un- 

 derstood by referring to the generic character in the 

 preceding pages. 



The space between the bill and the eye is sparsely 

 covered with feathers consisting of a shaft, downy at 

 the base, and prolonged into a hair. The feathers of 

 the head are of ordinary length, of the neck rather 

 long, all oblong-lanceolate, loose at the margin, but dis- 

 tinct ; those of the back, wings, and breast, are large. 



