THE WHITE-TAILED (SEA) EAGLE 153 



prey to carrion, and easily secures Grouse, in searching tor wliicli 

 it flies low on the moors, saiUng and wheeling at intervals. Hares, 

 roes, and even red deer, it also attacks, but it does not haunt the 

 shores for fish so much as the Sea Eagle does. There seems very 

 little probability that Eagles have the sense of smell very acute, 

 but that their vision is so is evident. I am not, however, inclined 

 to think that they perceive objects from the vast height to which they 

 sometimes soar, because I never saw one descend from such an 

 elevation in a manner indicating that it had observed a carcase or 

 other eatable object ; whereas, on the other hand, I have very 

 frequently seen them flying along the sides of the hills, at a small 

 height, obviously in search of food, in a manner somewhat resem- 

 bling that of the Sparrow-Hawk, but with much less rapidity.' 



The Golden Eagle breeds only in the Highlands, but it is not an 

 unfrequent visitor to the Lowlands of Scotland in the cold season. 

 Those birds which have been recorded as visiting England were 

 generally not this species but the White-tailed or Sea Eagle in 

 immature plumage. It prefers mountains or extensive forests, 

 building its eyrie either on rocks or lofty trees. In France, Sweden, 

 Spain, and Switzerland, it is frequently observed. Its note, called 

 in the Highlands ' a bark ', is sharp and loud, resembling at a dis- 

 tance, as, on the only occasion I ever heard it, it seemed to me, the 

 croak of a Raven. It lays two or sometimes three eggs, and feeds 

 its young, which are very voracious, on birds and the smafler 

 quadrupeds. 



THE WHITE-TAILED (SEA) EAGLE 



HALIAETUS ALBICILLA 



Tail not longer than the wings ; upper plumage brown, that of the head and 

 neck lightest, lower, chocolate brown ; tail white ; beak, cere, and feet 

 yellowish w^hite ; claws black. In young birds the tail is dark brown, and 

 the beak and cere are of a darker hue. Length of the male, two feet four 

 inches ; of the female, two feet ten inches. Eggs dirty white with a few 

 pale red marks. 



The White-tailed Eagle, known also by the name of the Sea Eagle, 

 is about equal in size to the Golden Eagle, but differs considerably 

 in character and habits ; for while the latter has been known to 

 pounce on a pack of Grouse and carry off two or three from before 

 the very eyes of the astonished sportsman and his dogs, or to 

 appropriate for his own special picking a hunted hare when about 

 to become the prey of the hounds, the White-tailed Eagle has been 

 observed to fly terror-struck from a pair of Skua Gulls, making 

 no return for their heavy buffets but a series of dastardly shrieks. 

 The ordinary food, too, of the nobler bird is living animals, though, 



