ERNE. 



Halietus albicilla, SELBY, 



Falco " MONTAGU. 



Apulia " JKNYNS. 



(H)als The sea. Aietos An Eagle. ^f/Z>a White. Cilia k tail. 



IF, beyond perhaps a kind of daring courage, and even this, 

 most probably, the mere result of hunger, the Golden Eagle 

 cannot be shewn to have any valid claim to the title usually 

 conferred upon it, so neither can the present species, or in 

 fact any other of the tribe to which it belongs, assert any 

 nobility beyond that of appearance and personal strength. 



The Erne, or Sea Eagle, seems to be a compound of the 

 characteristics of the Yultures, the Eagles, the Hawks, the 

 predatory Gulls, and the Eaven. It is a bird of imposing 

 aspect, though less striking and handsome than the Golden 

 Eagle, and not so compact: when excited it throws its head 

 backwards, sets up the pointed feathers of the head and neck, 

 and assumes many elegant and graceful attitudes. Its proper 

 habitat is near the sea -shore, or fresh- water lakes surrounded 

 by precipitous mountains : it is not however confined exclusively 

 to coast localities, for it sometimes has been met with inland 

 in one instance as much as forty miles from the sea, and 

 it occasionally also resorts to the sides of streams, in quest of 

 salmon, trout, and other fish. 



This species is of very frequent occurrence in many parts of 

 the old world, and is in this country far more numerous than the 

 Golden Eagle. It is the most abundant in the northern parts 

 of Ireland and Scotland, and in the Orkney and Shetland Islands, 

 but has also been repeatedly met with in England. It is most 

 frequently seen in Scotland, north of Aberdeen and the Ord 

 of Caithness, and but rarely south of St. Abb's Head. 

 ^ In flight, the feet are drawn close up, and the neck doubled 

 back, so that the head appears as it were to grow from the 

 shoulders. In this attitude it beats its hunting grounds, the 



