82 A VANISHING BIRD 



out prominently as being intimately associated 

 with our own West Highlands the white- 

 tailed eagle, otherwise known as the sea eagle 

 or erne ; in scientific nomenclature Halidetus 

 albicilla. 



This eagle is widely distributed, being found 

 throughout the Palaearctic region as far as Japan 

 and Kamtchatka in the East, and down through 

 China and India to Northern Africa ; but is not 

 found in America. It is at once to be distin- 

 guished from its congener, the golden eagle, by 

 the light creamy colour of head and neck and 

 the pure white tail ; that is, in the adult bird ; 

 in immature specimens these marks of differ- 

 ence are wanting, the bird being more or less 

 mottled all over with lighter and darker brown 

 markings ; but the species can at all times be 

 distinguished by the fact that in the sea eagle 

 the tarsus is bare, whereas in the golden eagle 

 it is feathered down to the toes. 



It is essentially a bird of the sea coast, though 

 sometimes found inland, and is decidedly om- 

 nivorous in its diet. Nothing seems to come 

 amiss to it ; but it appears to live largely on 

 the flotsam and jetsam dead fish or any carrion 

 thrown up by the waves, on dead sheep, or 

 indeed anything it can find or capture. It is 

 impossible, however, to acquit it of committing 



