74 THE WHITE-TAILED SEA EAGLE. 



Pinkie — Thomas the Rhymer prophetically alludes to the Battle 

 of Bannockburn long before it took place, and couples the erne 

 with the raven to prey on the dead. He says — 



" The burn of breid 

 Shall run fou reid." 



" The first of blessings I shall thee show 

 Is by a burn that's called of bread ; 

 Where Saxon men shall tine the bow, 

 And find their arrows lack the head. 



Beside that brigg, out-ower that burn, 



Where the water bickereth bright and sheen, 



Shall many a falling courser spurn, 

 And knights shall die in battle keen. 



Beside a headless cross of stone 



The libbards * there shall lose the gree, 

 The raven shall come, the erne shall go, 



And drink the Saxon bluid sae free." 



But though a carrion feeder, he is not less acute in his power 

 of sight than the golden eagle — the recognised king of birds, 

 for, as York says to Richard II., 



" Yet looks he like a king — behold his eye, 

 As bright as in the eagle's, lightens forth 

 Controlling majesty." 



The only bird in Britain that can singly cope with the 

 prowling erne is the golden eagle, but they seldom come in 

 contact, as their mission is much the same — self-sustenance and 

 propagation of species — never warfare for power, or storing up 

 wealth, like man, beyond the wants of the present hour. He 

 will sometimes be seen cowardly decamping out of the reach of 

 the raven or peregrine or the gull — and even the little screaming 

 tern when seen near their nests — as you may have seen a flock of 

 sparrows following in the wake of an owl or sparrow-hawk. 



The sea eagle is heavier than the golden eagle, but its wings 

 are not so long, for while it is about three inches longer from 

 beak to end of tail, it is seven inches less in extent of wings. 

 It is easily distinguished from the other by having its tarsus 

 bare and long feathers on its thighs, for the golden eagle's are 

 covered with feathers down to the toes. It also differs from the 

 osprey or true fishers, by having its bill longer and its claws 

 grooved underneath, instead of being rounded and rough, with 

 small pointed scales for holding its slippery prey — unlike the 



* The prowling leopards on the English standard. 



