216 OUTDOOR LIFE IN ENGLAND 



the feathered tribe ! How heart-broken it must 

 have been, and how it must have longed to 

 expand its wings and soar away over the surround- 

 ing hills ! Better far to run the gauntlet of every 

 gunner in the countryside than be daily bullied 

 and poked at by the sticks and parasols of every 

 fresh batch of visitors. 



Notices of the white-tailed eagle having been 

 observed are far from uncommon, and are from 

 time to time recorded in some one or other of the 

 sporting papers. Not long ago, a case containing 

 two very beautiful specimens of this eagle was 

 offered to me for a very moderate sum by a 

 friend of mine ; I was sorely tempted to purchase 

 it, and have since regretted that I did not do 

 so, since the birds were admirably preserved and 

 mounted. In colour of plumage this bird is 

 of a dark rich brown, the tail being white. Its 

 length varies from twenty-eight to thirty- four 

 inches. 



The goshawk, which but rarely visits this 

 country, is one of the largest of what may be 

 termed the hawks proper. As is generally the 

 case with the Falconidse, the female is con- 

 siderably larger than the male, the former 

 measuring nearly two feet in length, whereas the 

 latter averages some nineteen or twenty inches 

 only. The upper parts of its plumage are of an 

 ashy-brown, the under parts white with ashy- 

 brown bars, the tail brown, marked with bands 

 of darker brown, a thin white line being noticeable 



