34 NATUIIAL HISTORY [Birds. 



" herrie ; and they all put the same to the bailzie, and the 

 " bailzie shall be holden to present the head of the said earne 

 " at the head court/' 



Species 3. The Erne. 



Pjgargus, or While-tailed Eagle, Wil. Orn. 61. Rail Syn. AV. 7. Pygargus 

 Hihnularius, an Erne, Sib. Scot. 14. Vultur Albiulla, Lin. Sys. 123. The 

 Erne, Brit. Zool. I. J31. tab. 3. 



THIS species I only lately discovered in the Orkneys, 

 though it is resident in them, and brings forth its young there. 

 The description is as follows : Bill yellow, long, and crooked 

 at the point, the upper chap falling much over the lower ; 

 the cere yellow ; the head, neck, and shoulders ash-coloured, 

 or rather inclining to gray ; where the throat and breast are 

 joined, the gray is variegated with several blackish-brown 

 blotches ; the belly dark-coloured ; the feet a bright yellow, 

 unfeathered, with strong claws ; the back and wings almost 

 black, especially the quill-feathers of the latter ; the wings 

 themselves very strong and long ; the rump of the cock very 

 dark-coloured ; the tail, especially in the male, of a very pure 

 white. A pair of these birds build their nests in the Black- 

 Craig of Stromness, and I am told have done so these many 

 years, none* else of the kind offering to disturb that spot, 

 which these have chosen for their retreat. 



* This is an old observation, that the eagles maintain their right to that spot 



