48 HALI.EETUS ALBICILLA. 



knives to divert the torrents of water ; our councils about tlie best 

 mode of attaching the ropes ; the impertinence of a young lad, who, 

 stationed to watch for my signals, was rendered quite useless by 

 his keen sense of the ridiculous on seeing me, in my inexperience, 

 twisting round and round at the end of the rope ; the extraordinary 

 grandeur everything assumed from the nest itself; the luxurious 

 feeling of exultation ; the interest of every plant about it — I know 

 them all now ; the heaps of young Herring-Gulls' remains, and the 

 large fish-bone ; but, above all, the Eaglets fully able to fly, and 

 yet crouching side by side, with their necks stretched out and chins 

 on the ground, like young fawns, their frightened eyes pro\'ing that 

 they had no intention of showing fight. 



Very gently, as a man ' tickles ' trout, I passed my hand under 

 them and tied their legs together, and then tried to confine their 

 wings. They actually allowed me to fasten a handkerchief round 

 them, which, however, was soon shaken off when they began to be 

 pulled up. When the men had raised me, the string attached to my 

 waist lifted one Eaglet, and presently the second came to the length 

 of his tether. Great was the flapping of wings and clutching at 

 rocks and grass. I had many fears that the string or the birds' legs 

 must give way ; but, after much hard pulling, I got them safely to 

 the top, and they are now (1853) alive at Matlock amongst rocks, 

 where I hope they may breed ; but, though five years old this season, 

 they have not yet quite completed the adult plumage. Their dutiful 

 parents never came near them in their difficulties ; but I am happy 

 to say that, in 1850 (the year after I took their eggs), they carried off 

 their young, through the interest I was able to exert in their favour. 

 They had shifted their position; and they changed again in 1851 to a 

 rock with an aspect quite dift'erent, and more than a mile away. In 

 1847, to please the shepherds, the young were shot in the nest, which 

 was built in the spot where I visited it the two following years. There 

 was no sea-weed about this nest, either time that I saw it ; but a 

 friend writes me word that two which he examined last year on the 

 sea-cliffs of this island, and which he carefully described to me, were 

 principally made of that material, as Mr. Hewitson also had found 

 them in the Shetland Islands. On one of these two occasions, the old 

 Eagle made a dash near my informant, with a " fearful scream;" and 

 such was the tremendous character of the rocks, that his " hair gets 

 strong " when he thinks of them. These two nests, both occupied, 

 were not more than a mile and a half apart. 



The White-tailed Eagle is about a week or a fortnight later than 

 the Golden Eagle in laying its eggs. These are, I believe, generally 



