The Short-tailed Eagle, - 



-BIRDS.- 



-The White-headed Eagle. 



251 



although rarely, in France ; in the Asiatic continent it 

 extends its range as far as Bengal, and in the more 

 northern regions probably still further. In Europe it 

 prej's upon the smaller quadrupeds and birds, occa- 

 sionally feeding upon reptiles and even insects; but in 

 India its preference for reptiles is so marked, that its 

 native names refer to the havoc which it makes among 

 the snakes. It does not, however, confine itself to 

 this food, but devours small quadrupeds and birds; and 

 Mr. Elliot found a centipede in the stomach of one, 

 together with a snake two feet in length. It buUds in 

 trees, and lays two or three eggs of a bluish-white 

 colour, sometimes spotted with bro-svnish. 



THE SHORT-TAILED EAGLE {Hdotarsus ecaudalus), 

 an inhabitant of the southern parts of Africa, is dis- 

 tinguished from all the other eagles by the extreme 

 shortness of its tail, wliich is almost entirely concealed 

 beneath tlie wings when these are closed. The eyes 

 are sun'ounded by a naked skin, which, mth the cere, 

 is of a bright red colour. So short is the tail that Le 

 Vaillant, the first discoverer of die bird, fancied it to 

 be an eagle which had been deprived of its tail by some 

 accident; its aspect accordingly is very deficient in 

 grace, and its movements in the air are exceedingly 

 smgular. This aerial play, which appears to be con- 

 nected with tlie courting of these remarkable birds, is 

 compared by Le Vaillant with the tricks of a tumbler, 

 and he gave this eagle the name of the Bateleur ft'om 

 this circumstance. It is by no means choice in its diet, 

 but feeds freely, like the vultures, upon carrion ; never- 

 theless it frequently destroys young antelopes and 

 lambs, and also sickly sheep. Its nest is built in trees, 

 and the female lays three or four bluish-white eggs. 



THE WHITE-TAILED EAGLE {Haliaelus alhicUla), 

 the first of the group of sea-eagles to which we shall 

 refer, is an mhabitant of the greater part of Em-ope, 

 especially the northern regions of that continent, and 

 extends its range eastwai'd as far as Lake Baikal in 

 Siberia. It is also met with in Iceland and Greenland, 

 but does not occur in North America. It is a large 

 species, the adult female measm'iug nearly' three feet 

 in length, so that it is httle inferior in size to the 

 golden eagle ; its general colour is brown, lighter and 

 darker on different regions of the body, the back and 

 wings being darkest; the tail is pure white, the feet, 

 cere, and beak yellow, and the claws black. In Britiiin 

 it is a more common species than tlie golden eagle, 

 from which it differs in many important characters, 

 especially in the much greater length of the beak, and 

 the comparative slenderness of the claws. In its habits 

 it is more sluggish and vulturine than the golden eagle 

 and its immediate allies. 



The Wiite-tailed eagle usually inhabits rocks 

 and clifts overhanging the sea, from which it dashes 

 do-wn impetuously to seize either bhds or fishes, and 

 where seals abound it not mioommonly attacks them. 

 At other times it carries its marauding excursions 

 inland, destroying land birds and quadrupeds, and 

 evincing a particular partiality for young fa-\vns and 

 dead deer. It is more abmidant in the latitude 

 of Britain in the winter than in the summer; and, 

 according to Temminck, it follows the flocks of geese 

 which n.igrate annually to and from the Arctic seas. 



Nevertheless numeroHS specimens of these birds 

 remain throughout the summer, and breed upon the 

 rocks surrounding the Orkney and Shetland islands, 

 and other northern coasts of the British islands; 

 although from the number of them that have been 

 kiUed, on account of their destruction of the young 

 lambs, they are by no means so abundant as formerly. 

 The nest, which is built upon a ledge of rock, usually 

 at a gi-eat height above the sea, is of large size, consist- 

 ing of a flat platform, about five feet in diameter, com- 

 posed of sticks, heath, dried sea-weed, grass, wool, &c. 

 Upon this are deposited the eggs, usually two in 

 number, about the size of that of the goose, but broader 

 and of a white colour, with a few pale red spots, espe- 

 cially towards the larger end. Nidificatioa com- 

 mences about the middle of spring, and the young are 

 hatched early in June. The young are able to fly 

 about the middle of August, but the old birds generally 

 continue to feed them for some time, and, according to 

 some wiiters, the parents quit the neighbourhood when 

 the young birds are able to provide for themselves ; 

 unlike the golden eagles, which generally diive their 

 offspring away to some distauce, and often occupy the 

 same nest for seven or eight consecutive 3'ears. 



In courage the White-tailed eagle is very inferior to 

 the golden eagle, rarely attackmg any large animal, 

 and feeding contentedly upon carrion of all sorts. In 

 the Shetlands they are known to sweep round the cot- 

 tages early in tlie morning, to pick up any poultry that 

 may be about; but, according to Dr. Edmondston, the 

 flocks of geese which are turned out in those islands to 

 pasture upon the hills during tlie summer and autumn, 

 are rarely attacked by the eagles, although in the 

 immediate \Ticimty of their bamits. " The wing of tlio 

 gander," he says, "which not uufrequently is uplifted 

 in defence of his young, has a moral, if not a physical 

 power, which the robber Erne seems to quail under." 

 The same gentleman tells us that, " occasionally, during 

 warm weather, skate and halibut bask on the surface 

 of the water, and the eagle pounces on them; but 

 several instances have occuiTed of this aquatic hunt 

 being fatal to him. If the fish is not so large as to be 

 able immediately to drag him mider the water, he 

 elevates his \vuigs, and in this way, if the wind happens 

 to be blowing on the land, he often manages to reach 

 it in safety." On reaching the shore, however, he is 

 compelled to liberate his claws with his beak, and it is 

 this circumstance that renders these piscatorial exploits 

 so dangerous, unless the fish captured be of the right 

 size, and the wind in the right direction. The Sea eagle 

 feeds freely upon any dead fish that may be thrown up 

 on the shore, and he seems to perceive these objects 

 from a gi'eat height in the air. 



THE WHITE-HEADED EAGLE (Haliaetus Icucocc- 

 phalus), which is also called the Bald Eagle, is an 

 abundant species in the United States of North America, 

 where it takes the place of the white-tailed eagle 

 of Europe. It exceeds the European species in size, 

 and especially in extent of wing, but, lilce it, mhabits 

 the vicinity of the sea, and also of the lakes and rivers. 

 In its general habits it greatly resembles the white- 

 taUed eagle, feeding with avidity upon carrion, and 

 exhibiting a decided partiality for fish. In AVilson's 



