BIRDS. 145 



island of Hoy. Wallace wrote of the abundance of the " Eagle 

 or Erne," but he probably referred to the White- tailed Eagle, 

 and even Low never seems to mention the Golden as distinct 

 from the Sea Eagle. Kobert Dunn mentions this species as 

 breeding on the west side of Hoy Hill, but adds that " it is so 

 scarce that I only saw a single pair." Ten years later Messrs. 

 Baikie and Heddle also mention a single pair only, though they 

 add that " several years ago they had two breeding-places," on 

 this same island of Hoy ; this, however, need by no means imply 

 that there were two pairs of birds, as it is well known that 

 eagles do not always use the same eyrie two years in succes- 

 sion ; indeed, to do so seems the exception, though the two sites 

 may not be very far apart. 



In Salmon's Diary of a visit to Orkney, under date June 

 2d, 1831, we find this entry : 



" Went over to the island of Hoy. . . . There are two sorts 

 of Eagles breed among the rocks, the Golden Eagle (Falco chrys- 

 aetos) and Sea Eagle (Falco ossifragus) or Fishing Eagle. We 

 were informed by a man who has taken their nests for several 

 years past that both of them lay from two to three eggs. He 

 had taken three eaglets from the nest of the Golden Eagle this 

 summer, and one of them is now living at Stromness." 



Through the kindness of the Rev. H. A. Macpherson, we 

 have been favoured with the loan of the correspondence between 

 T. C. Heysham and E. F. Sheppard during the latter's stay in 

 Orkney. Sheppard, though not a collector himself, used to 

 get eggs and birds for his friends, and sent Heysham some 

 eggs both of the Golden and White-tailed Eagle. 



In a letter dated 21st October 1840, Sheppard said that 

 in 1839, there were four Eagles' nests in Hoy, and that every 

 one was robbed. Two were Golden and two White-tailed Eagles,, 

 and all the eggs from their nests were white. One of these white 

 eggs of the Golden Eagle was sent to Heysham, who, from its 

 colour, considered it really was that of the White-tailed species. 



In the summer of 1840, Sheppard said the Hoy men 

 only took one egg of the Sea Eagle, the Golden Eagles having 

 shifted their quarters and built their nests where they could 

 not be got at. 



K 



