88 BRITISH BIRDS. 
and the Isle of Man. In Ireland the White-tailed Eagle is not uncommon 
in the mountainous districts, especially on the west coast. In Connemara 
I have often seen several on the wing together, and once climbed up to 
a nest with the help of a rope hung over the cliff. I have also seen 
the eyrie on the Blasquets, where these birds have bred from time 
immemorial. 
The White-tailed Eagle is a Palearctic bird, being confined to the 
northern portion of the eastern hemisphere and Greenland. It breeds in 
suitable localities throughout Europe, from the Arctic circle to the 
Mediterranean. It winters in South Europe and North Africa, a few 
remaining to breed in the Canary Islands, Algeria, and Egypt. Eastwards 
it breeds throughout Siberia, south of the Arctic circle, and winters in 
Persia, Turkestan, and South China, occasionally crossing the Himalayas 
into India. This Eagle has several close allies in various parts of the 
world. From the Crimea eastwards to India and Burma it is partially 
replaced by Pallas’s Sea-Eagle (Haliaetus leucoryphus), a much more 
rufous-coloured bird, with a broad terminal black bar to its otherwise 
white tail. In North-east Siberia, North China, Japan, and Kamtschatka 
it is partially replaced by Haliaetus pelagicus, the largest Eagle known, 
and easily distinguished by having the thighs, rump, and lesser and median 
wing-coverts white. In the Aleutian Islands and throughout Northern 
America, with the exception of Greenland, the White-tailed Eagle is re- 
placed by the well-known White-headed or Bald Eagle (Haliaetus leuco- 
cephalus). The latter bird has been said to have occurred in Europe ; but 
no example killed on this continent is known. It is very easy to mistake 
old birds of the White-tailed Eagle for this species, especially on the 
wing. 
The haunt of the White-tailed Eagle is not necessarily a maritime one, 
although the bird is more attached to the coasts and the sea-cliffs than the 
Golden Eagle. It may, however, be often seen far away from the ocean, 
choosing for its haunt some large inland lake, especially if there be lofty 
cliffs and rocky islets on which it ean perch to scan the surrounding 
country. The haunts of this noble-looking bird are the brown hills of the 
Hebrides and the adjacent Isles, and the wild mountain-country of the 
mainland in the West. On the bold and rocky headlands of this wild 
rugged coast, whose hoary peaks are washed by the treacherous waters of 
the Minch, the Sea-Eagle finds a congenial home. The scenery of Skye 
is typical of this Eagle’s favourite haunt. On that bleak and desolate isle 
it occurs in probably larger numbers than in any other place in Great 
_ Britain. Dixon writes of its occurrence there as follows :—*‘‘ Almost every 
sheep-farm possesses one or two eyries; and in most of the remote and 
stupendous cliffs of the coast a pair have built their nest. Wild indeed 
are its haunts here ; and from the great inaccessibility of its nesting-places, 
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