24 OUR RARER BIRDS 



these banks the seapinks and primroses are full of bloom, lend- 

 ing a delicious fragrance to the bracing air. On yonder stack of 

 rocks the male Eagle sits and barks forth defiance at our in- 

 trusion, although too timid to show his displeasure in a more 

 marked degree. The female Eagle, too, must be included in 

 the picture. She is high in air above our heads, ever and 

 anon descending lower and sweeping past the face of the cliff, 

 well out of gunshot, and showing her anger by thrusting out 

 her legs and opening her sharp talons. The ledge on which 

 I am standing is scattered with large bones of the various fish 

 that have been conveyed here ; and just on the edge of the 

 nest are a few Puffins' feet and an entire beak of that bird, 

 whilst on every side are to be seen castings and droppings of 

 the old Eagles. The nest is a bulky structure, the accumulation 

 of years, flat in form, and about five feet across. It is made of 

 sticks of various thicknesses, not very intricately interwoven, 

 although firm in texture, a branch or two of heather, some of 

 them with the leaves still green upon them, others worn and 

 bleached, and a few pieces of seaweed. The lining is composed 

 of grass, a few leaves of the sea-campion, a tuft or two of wool, 

 and some bits of turf, on which the two eggs lie so temptingly. 

 Many nests of the White -tailed Eagle are very slight, 

 in some cases little more than a hollow scratched out in the 

 soft soil on some rock ledge. The eggs are almost always 

 two in number ; in some very rare instances three have been 

 found, but usually one of them is bad. They are on an 

 average slightly smaller than those of the Golden Eagle, from 

 which they are readily distinguished by the absence of all 

 colouring matter, and their much rougher texture. Both birds 

 appear to assist in hatching the eggs, but the female performs 

 the greatest share of the task. The sitting bird is tended 

 carefully by its mate, and if one of the birds be destroyed, the 

 survivor speedily finds a new companion a peculiarity com- 

 mon to most raptorial birds. The young remain in the nest 



