THE WHITE-TAILED EAGLE 



(Haliaetus albicilla) 



THE White-tailed Eagle or Sea Eagle is a much commoner 

 bird than the preceding species, and one that is very fre- 

 quently confounded with it. It may be readily distinguished 

 by its naked tarsi, those of the Golden Eagle being feathered 

 to the toes. Like that bird it is now an inhabitant of the 

 wildest districts only. Persecution has driven it from the 

 precipitous coasts and freshwater lakes of England, but in 

 the remote Highlands it still survives, and a pair may be 

 generally met with on most of the inland lochs, or on the 

 bold headlands of this rockbound land. It is much more of 

 a maritime bird than the Golden Eagle, although it is just 

 as much at home amongst the mountains that look down 

 into the inland lakes. To study the habits and economy of 

 this handsome bird we must visit some of the wildest and 

 the grandest scenery our islands can boast. We must seek 

 him in the brown heathery solitudes of the northern mount- 

 ains, and among the lonely islands that stud the sea along 

 the wild west coast of Scotland. Broad stretches of moor- 

 land, towering rocks piled one upon the other in endless 

 confusion, sea-girt cliffs which rise sheer from the restless 

 waves hundreds of feet below; secluded lochs and romantic 

 glens down which mountain torrents leap from boulder to 

 boulder these are the haunts of the White-tailed Eagle. In 

 spite of the price set upon its head, and notwithstanding the 



