ERNE. $b 
example of ‘the ruling passion strong in death,’ and an un- 
wonted passage in the life and death of a fish, in whose case 
the usual order of things in the matter of hooking was reversed. 
The following somewhat similar story is related by Bishop 
Stanley:—‘A halibut, a large flat-fish, resembling a turbot, 
reposing on or near the surface of the water, was perceived 
by an Erne, which immediately pounced down and struck his 
talons into the fish with all his force. Should the halibut be 
too strong, the Eagle, it is said, is sometimes, but rarely, 
drowned in the struggle. In this case, however, as more 
frequently happens, he overcame the fish, on which he remained 
as if floating on a raft, and then spreading out his wide wings, 
he made use of them as sails, and was driven by the wind 
towards the shore.’ 
The Erne, like the Golden Eagle, is said to have not un- 
frequently supplied the wants of different persons in the 
Hebrides, by the food it had brought to its nest in abundance, 
for its young. It does not, as that bird, attack those who 
molest its nestlings, but there are two curious accounts on 
record of its assailing, in an unprovoked manner, persons 
whom it had surprised in hazardous situations on the edges of 
some dangerous cliffs. Mr. Leadbeater had one of these birds 
which became quite tame, and even affectionate to those about it. 
It is said that the Erne is more plentiful in Britain in the 
winter than at any other season, which, if so, would make 
it appear that it partially migrated. It builds in March, and 
sits very close, but is by no means so courageous as the 
Golden Eagle in defending its brood; one instance to the contrary 
is indeed on record, but the exception only proves the rule. 
The nest, which is about five feet wide, and very flat, having 
only a slight hollow in the middle, is a mass of sticks, heather, 
or sea-weed, as the case may be, arranged in a slovenly manner, 
and lined with any soft material, such as grass, wool, or feathers. 
It is placed on some precipice, or in the hollow of a crag or 
rock, overhanging the sea, or else on some inland fastness, 
perhaps an island in a lake, or sometimes on a rock at the 
edge of one. The male bird is said to take his turn at incubation 
with the female. The Erne is less strongly attached to its 
haunts than the Golden Eagle, but it seems in some degree 
fond of them, and not unfrequently returns to the same breeding 
place for several years in succession. 
The eggs, which, by a merciful provision, are few in number, 
as are those of the other Eagles, one, or at the most, two, 
