288 FIELD-NOTES FOR THE VEAIl. CH. XX. 



The bird was killed in Sutherlandshire ; and I was 

 informed that another eagle had been seen in its 

 company with the same unusual plumage. The 

 bird had quite arrived at maturity, but did not 

 appear to be a very old one. Partridges, pheasants, 

 grouse, and many small birds occasionally appear in 

 a snow'-white dress ; but the birds of prey seldom 

 change their colour. A black sw^au we read of as 

 an example of a " rara avis ;" what must then a 

 white crow have been thought of by the augurs and 

 omen-seekers among the ancients ? Yet rooks and 

 jackdaws, both parti-coloured and white, are by no 

 means so uncommon with us as to be looked on as 

 wonders. 



This white eagle had been probably bred on some 

 of the wild rocky headlands of the north coast of 

 Sutherlandshire, where not even the value of the eggs 

 can at all times induce the shepherds of the neighbour- 

 hood to attempt their capture. The sea-eagle is, in its 

 habits, a sluggish, vulture-like bird, feeding chiefly 

 on the dead fish and other animal substances which 

 are cast up by the sea on these lonely and rugged 

 shores, and seldom attacking the lambs of the 

 farmer to the same extent as the golden eagle does. 

 Although it is frequently seen, and its sharp bark- 

 like cry is heard far inland, the usual hunting- 

 ground of the sea-eagle is along the shore, where it 



