88 BRITISH BIRDS. 



and the Isle of Man. In Ireland the White-tailed Eagle is not uncommon 

 in the mountainous districts, especially on the west coast. In Connemara 

 I have often seen several on the wing together, and once climbed up to 

 a nest with the help of a rope hung over the cliff. I have also seen 

 the eyrie on the Blasquets, where these birds have bred from time 

 immemorial. 



The White-tailed Eagle is a Palsearctic bird, being confined to the 

 northern portion of the eastern hemisphere and Greenland. It breeds in 

 suitable localities throughout Europe, from the Arctic circle to the 

 Mediterranean. It winters in South Europe and North Africa, a few 

 remaining to breed in the Canary Islands, Algeria, and Egypt. Eastwards 

 it breeds throughout Siberia, south of the Arctic circle, and winters in 

 Persia, Turkestan, and South China, occasionally crossing the Himalayas 

 into India. This Eagle has several close allies in various parts of the 

 world. From the Crimea eastwards to India and Burma it is partially 

 replaced by Pallas's Sea-Eagle [HaJiaetus leucoryphus), a much more 

 rufous-coloured bird, with a broad terminal black bar to its otherwise 

 white tail. In North-east Siberia, North China, Japan, and Kamtschatka 

 it is pai-tially replaced by Haliaetus xjelaijicus, the largest Eagle known, 

 and easily distinguished by having the thighs, rump, and lesser and median 

 wing-coverts white. In the Aleutian Islands and throughout Northern 

 America, with the exception of Greenland, the White-tailed Eagle is re- 

 placed by the well-known White-headed or Bald Eagle [Haliaeins leuco- 

 cephalus) . The latter bird has been said to have occurred in Europe ; but 

 no example killed on this continent is known. It is very easy to mistake 

 old birds of the White-tailed Eagle for this species, especially on the 

 wing. 



The haunt of the ^Vhite-tailed Eagle is not necessarily a maritime one, 

 although the bird is more attached to the coasts and the sea-cliffs than the 

 Golden Eagle. It may, however, be often seen far away from the ocean, 

 choosing for its haunt some large inland lake, especially if there be lofty 

 cliffs and rocky islets on which it can perch to scan the surrounding 

 country. The haunts of this noble-looking bird are the brown hills of the 

 Hebrides and the adjacent Isles, and the wild mountain-country of the 

 mainland in the West. On the bold and rocky headlands of this wild 

 rugged coast, whose hoary peaks are washed by the treacherous waters of 

 the Minch, the Sea-Eagle finds a congenial home. The scenery of Skye 

 is typical of this Eagle's favourite haunt. On that bleak and desolate isle 

 it occurs in probably larger numbers than in any other place in Great 

 Britain. Dixon writes of its occurrence there as follows: — "Almost every 

 sheep-farm possesses one or two eyries ; and in most of the remote and 

 stupendous cliffs of the coast a pair have built their nest. Wild indeed 

 are its haunts here ; and from the great inaccessibility of its nesting-places, 



