176 WHITE-TAILED 1IAGLE 



though much less frequently. We visited a nest 

 placed on an aged larch, growing on one of the 

 romantic islands in Loch Awe. It was a large 

 fabric of sticks, placed about half way up the 

 tree, (the nest of a Sparrowhawk was a model of 

 it in miniature,) built close to the stem, very flat, 

 but strongly composed of sticks and roots, and 

 lined in a very miscellaneous manner ; wool 

 formed the greatest part, moss also, and a child's 

 bonnet, and part of a bridle were in its struc- 

 ture.* The eggs are generally two in number, 

 larger than those of the Golden Eagle, round in 

 form, and pure white, or with very pale indistinct 

 blotches. In England the breeding places of the 

 Sea Eagle are now very rare, perhaps not moro 

 than one or two. The birds themselves are, 

 however, not unfrequently met with and shot, 

 both in the south and in the border counties 

 of Scotland, which are also beyond their breeding 

 range ; but the greater part of the birds thus 

 killed are in immature plumage. 



From its occurrence in greatest numbers near 

 the sea, or in the vicinity of some extensive piece 

 of water, the commonly used name has been 



* Mr Thompson describes a nest on the " Horn-head," 

 as composed in its " first layer : it was composed of strong 

 stems of heather, and was lined with the tender twigs of 

 heath, and with plants of Luciola sylvatica." Mag. of 

 Zool. and Dot. II. p. 47 



