WHITE.TAILED SEA-EAGLE. 55 



gree from the male in external appearance, and her su- 

 periority in size is less than is usual in this family, the 

 difference being much smaller, for example, than be- 

 tween the male and the female of the golden eagle. 



Length 3 feet 2 inches, extent of wings 7 feet ; bill 

 Sj% long, 11 deep ; tarsus 4, middle toe and claw 5^. 



Variations. — The colouring varies considerably, old 

 birds only being as described above, while the young- 

 er are darker. The size also diflPers vcsry materially. 

 The extent of wing of an individual which I examined 

 in Harris was seven feet four inches, but the largest that 

 I have seen was in South Uist ; and it was said by its 

 proprietor, Mr Munro, the minister of that parish, to 

 measure 9 feet between the tips of the wings. The 

 changes which the feathers undergo as they become old 

 are not remarkable, the tints merely becoming fainter, 

 and the tips and margins lacerated. 



Habits. — With the name of the eagle we commonly 

 associate magnificent ideas of moral grandeur and phy- 

 sical energy ; and similar attributes we are accustomed 

 to give to persons who have displayed qualities resem- 

 bling those of the king of birds. But when the cha- 

 racter of many of those individuals is carefully exa- 

 mined, we too often find it less estimable than it at 

 first seemed ; and, in like manner, an attentive obser- 

 vation of the habits of the species here described, has 

 induced me to dissent in several particulars from the 

 popular opinion respecting it. 



If magnitude, strength, and rapacity, constitute no- 

 bility, the White-tailed Eagle is a noble bird ; but if 



