516 Birds. 



Notes on the Birds of the Isle of Wight. By the Rev. C. A. Bury. 



The Golden Eagle. About the year 1828 a golden eagle made ii 

 appearance in the neighbourhood of Appuldurcombe, the seat of th( 

 Earl of Yarborough. It was seen repeatedly, and returned constantly 

 to the same tree to roost. At the expiration of three or four weeks 

 the keeper waylaid and wounded it. It escaped for a time ; but was 

 captured two or three days subsequently by some labourers, and 

 brought to the keeper's lodge. It refused to eat, though apparently 

 wounded in the wing only, and died in about ten days. While in the 

 neighbourhood it destroyed several lambs, and devoured the carcass 

 of a sheep that had died ; to which it was seen frequently to resort. 

 Its remains were nailed over the dairy-door at Appuldurcombe ; 

 whence, in the spring of 1843, I obtained the skull and neck, as pre- 

 cious relics. They are now in my possession. 



This account, with a description of the bird, was given me by Mr. 

 Robert Loe, of Newchurch ; to whom I am indebted for very much 

 valuable information on the birds of the island. Mr. Loe saw the ea- 

 gle frequently ; and his correctness of observation and accuracy of 

 memory are such, that I should from his description have felt satis- 

 fied as to its species, even did not the form and measurement of the 

 beak clearly indicate it. 



The White-tailed Eagle is known to have once visited us. At the 

 Hermitage, the seat of the late Barlow Hoy, Esq., a tame eagle of 

 this species has been kept for many years. One morning at break- 

 fast-time, about seven years ago, the attention of the gardener and 

 gamekeeper was arrested by the unusually loud screams of the bird, 

 which was chained on the lawn at no great distance from the house ; 

 when a wild bird of the same species was seen by them to descend, 

 and alight near the tame eagle. On being disturbed it flew to a neigh- 

 bouring cliff; and after remaining there some hours, took flight, and 

 was not again seen. The newspapers of the following week recorded 

 the capture of a white-tailed eagle in the New Forest. 



The Osprey is occasionally seen on our coast. Mr. Plumley, of the 

 Freshwater Hotel, has in his possession a specimen, shot by himself 

 on the adjoining cliffs, in the autumn of 1838. On September 15, 

 1843, I myself saw an osprey fly past within one hundred yards of my 

 own residence. During the following week a bird of this species was 

 killed on or near the Isle of Portland ; and specimens have of late 

 years been obtained not unfrequently along the Hampshire coast. 



