THE OSPREY. 27 



ledge of a perpendicular sea-cliff, two full-fledged 

 eaglets, which now, nearly five years old, have not 

 (March, 1853) acquired their complete adult plumage, 

 though kept in a most congenial situation among the 

 Derbyshire rocks. The eggs of the White^tailed Eagle 

 are laid a week or fortnight later than those of the 

 Golden Eagle : they are generally smaller." 



The prevailing colour of the adult Sea Eagle is 

 a dull brown, paler on the head and upper parts, 

 the feathers of which are pointed or lance-shaped. 

 When the bird is irritated or alarmed, it raises its 

 feathers, which then give it a much lighter appear- 

 ance, and if the sun be shining it looks bright, and 

 almost white. The quills are blackish-brown with a 

 purple-tinge ; the shafts are pale. The upper tail-coverts 

 and the tail itself are pure white. This is the full 

 adult plumage, usually complete after the third moult, 

 but in the case of the bird above mentioned, the tail 

 was not perfectly white at the age of five years, and 

 was not so until it had attained the age of seven years. 

 The plumage of the young is of an amber-brown, 

 grayer beneath, and the tips of the feathers paler, 

 often white at the base. The tail is mottled brown 

 and white. At each succeeding moult the tail be- 

 comes lighter the colour of the beak becomes 

 greenish, and the iris pale chestnut-brown, sometimes 

 yellow. The shape of the Sea Eagle is more slouching 

 than that of the Golden Eagle, and it is apt, when 

 sitting at rest, to hang its feathers loosely, so as to 

 appear untidy and sluggish. 



The Osprey (Pandion halicEtus), unlike the Sea 

 Eagle, takes its prey from the water ; its claws are 



