438 MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 



IV. 



THE many opportunities that I have had of studying the 

 great Sea-Eagle (Haliaetus albicilla), the largest of all our 

 eagles, lead me to believe that I can furnish some notes con- 

 cerning it which may not be wholly uninteresting to many 

 of my readers. 



The Sea-Eagle is the best known eagle of our country, 

 although it breeds in so few of its districts; for it is very 

 widely distributed, and one may safely say that, with the ex- 

 ception of the Alps, every part of Austria is yearly visited 

 by this bird in the course of its wanderings. It is the com- 

 monest of our eagles, but in most places merely appears at 

 certain seasons of the year, and there are only a few southern 

 localities where it is more than a winter bird, a passing guest 

 on its travels. 



The western parts of Austria are for the Sea-Eagle merely 

 winter-quarters. It visits them on its long journeys, which 

 begin in autumn and continue until about the middle of 

 March. It may be met with during the winter months 

 throughout Central Europe, excepting the high mountains. 

 These it shuns, or at most just touches them on its migrations. 

 During my many rambles through all the Alpine districts of 

 Austria I never saw a Sea-Eagle, and have only heard of one 

 being killed within the last few years. It was shot in the 

 range of the northern limestone Alps, and was a very power- 

 ful young bird, which frequented the shores of the lake of 

 Gmunden and the most northerly spurs of those mountains 

 for three weeks. From time to time it flew a little way up 

 the Traun, towards the interior of the hills, and after doing 

 much damage among the ducks and other waterfowl of the 



