WHITE-TAILED EAGLE. 17 



examples that were shot in Cliillingham Parle, where they 

 were accustomed to feed upon the fallen deer. 



The White-tailed Eagle builds its nest on high rocks, 

 and lays two eggs about the same size as those of the Golden 

 Eagle, but with very little or no red colour on the white 

 ground. The young are at first covered 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. Mudic 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 White-tailed Eagle, quitting the breeding station 

 when the season is over, leave their young to forage over the 

 district in which they have been raised. 



In confinement the White-tailed Eagle sometimes be- 

 comes sociable. I liave seen one that appeared to court and 

 enjoy the caresses of those who attended to its wants. One 

 kept by Mr. Hoy laid three eggs in the same season ; and 

 a female in the possession of Mr. Selby laid an egg after 

 having been kept in confinement twenty years. 



This species has been taken in most of the counties on the 

 east coast. A pair were trapped on a rabbit-warren in Suf- 

 folk, one of which carried a heavy trap nearly half a mile, 

 and was secured with some difficulty. Six specimens have 

 been killed in Norfolk since the year 1811. Holy Island 

 and St. Abb's Head are localities near which these birds have 

 been occasionally seen. Specimens have also been killed 

 in Hampshire, Devonshire, Somersetshire, and Shropshire. 

 Montagu received the young from a nest taken in the county 

 of Down ; and from Mr. Thompson I learn that it is not 

 imcommon on the rocky parts of the western and northern 



VOL. I. c 



