ERNE. 
PLATE III. 
Haliaétus albicilla, : 5 SELBY. 
Faleo albicilla, 4 x . Montagu. Genin. 
Aquila albicilla, . 4 : JENYNS. 
Tue nest of the Erne is a large structure, or rather, 
in fact, at least frequently so, after its fabrication in 
the first instance, a superstructure, the original one 
being built upon from year to year. It is as much as 
five feet wide, and very flat, having only a slight hollow 
in the middle, and is a mass of sticks, heather, or sea- 
weed, as the case may be. These rough materials are 
arranged in as rough a manner, being slovenly put 
together, and lined with any such soft materials as the 
architects may be able to procure. It is placed on 
some rocky precipice, or in the hollow of a crag or 
rock overhanging the sea, or else on some inland natural 
fortress, such as an island in the centre of a mountain 
lake, or sometimes on a rock at the edge of one, whence 
the Erne— 
“from her care on high 
Casts on the rout her wondering eye.” 
The male bird takes his turn at incubation with the 
female. The Erne is said to be less strongly attached 
to its haunts than the Golden Eagle, but it seems to be 
in some degree fond of them, and not unfrequently 
