﻿BIED8. 
  

  

  127 
  

  

  the 
  present 
  day. 
  That 
  the 
  Sea 
  Eagle 
  was 
  resident 
  and 
  bred 
  

   within 
  our 
  confines 
  is 
  indisputable, 
  for 
  along 
  our 
  coast 
  line 
  

   many 
  rocks 
  still 
  retain 
  the 
  name 
  of 
  " 
  Erne 
  Heugh 
  " 
  or 
  " 
  Erne 
  

   Craig" 
  — 
  places 
  where 
  the 
  birds 
  at 
  one 
  time 
  reared 
  their 
  

   young. 
  

  

  Adams 
  says 
  (Birds 
  of 
  Banchory 
  -Ternan, 
  p. 
  10): 
  "Certainly 
  

   not 
  so 
  rare 
  as 
  the 
  former 
  (Golden 
  Eagle), 
  and 
  yet 
  we 
  

   are 
  not 
  aware 
  that 
  a 
  specimen 
  has 
  been 
  procured 
  in 
  the 
  

   district 
  for 
  some 
  time 
  past. 
  An 
  Erne, 
  however, 
  a 
  few 
  years 
  

   ago, 
  was 
  taken 
  somewhere 
  in 
  the 
  Grampians 
  and 
  exhibited 
  

   in 
  Aberdeen." 
  This 
  he 
  wrote 
  in 
  1859. 
  In 
  our 
  day, 
  however, 
  

   it 
  is 
  certainly 
  the 
  less 
  abundant 
  of 
  the 
  two 
  ; 
  and 
  as 
  far 
  as 
  I 
  

   know 
  not 
  a 
  single 
  pair 
  of 
  Sea 
  Eagles 
  breeds 
  within 
  the 
  

   bounds 
  of 
  "Dee," 
  and 
  even 
  the 
  bird 
  itself 
  must 
  now 
  be 
  looked 
  

   upon 
  as 
  a 
  rare 
  straggler. 
  

  

  In 
  1861 
  a 
  Sea 
  Eagle 
  passed 
  within 
  twenty 
  yards 
  of 
  the 
  

   writer 
  near 
  the 
  village 
  of 
  Tarland. 
  It 
  flew 
  in 
  a 
  slow 
  

   deliberate 
  manner, 
  thus 
  affording 
  an 
  excellent 
  view, 
  its 
  course 
  

   being 
  in 
  a 
  north-easterly 
  direction. 
  Three 
  days 
  afterwards 
  a 
  

   bird 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  kind 
  was 
  caught 
  in 
  a 
  trap 
  among 
  the 
  hills 
  

   lying 
  between 
  Cromar 
  and 
  Strathdon, 
  and 
  brought 
  to 
  me 
  

   alive. 
  This 
  was 
  in 
  all 
  probability 
  the 
  one 
  seen 
  passing 
  over 
  

   Tarland, 
  as 
  the 
  line 
  of 
  flight 
  when 
  observed 
  by 
  me 
  would 
  

   carry 
  it 
  to 
  where 
  the 
  capture 
  was 
  effected. 
  

  

  " 
  One 
  in 
  his 
  first 
  winter's 
  plumage 
  struck 
  against 
  the 
  

   Girdleness 
  Lighthouse 
  during 
  the 
  night 
  a 
  few 
  years 
  ago." 
  

   (Taylor, 
  Naturalist* 
  vol. 
  iii., 
  p. 
  139.) 
  It 
  was 
  preserved 
  by 
  the 
  

   late 
  A. 
  Mitchell, 
  Castle 
  Street, 
  Aberdeen 
  ; 
  but 
  what 
  became 
  

   of 
  it 
  I 
  have 
  not 
  learned. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  N. 
  S. 
  A. 
  for 
  the 
  parish 
  of 
  Aberdour, 
  pp. 
  261 
  and 
  

   262, 
  under 
  the 
  heading 
  "Zoology," 
  is 
  the 
  following: 
  "At 
  one 
  

   period 
  there 
  was 
  a 
  pair 
  of 
  Eagles 
  that 
  regularly 
  nested 
  and 
  

   brought 
  forth 
  their 
  young 
  in 
  the 
  rocks 
  of 
  Pennan 
  ; 
  but 
  accord- 
  

   ing 
  to 
  the 
  tradition 
  of 
  the 
  country, 
  when 
  the 
  late 
  Earl 
  of 
  

   Aberdeen 
  purchased 
  the 
  estate 
  from 
  the 
  Bairds, 
  the 
  former 
  

   proprietors, 
  the 
  Eagles 
  disappeared 
  in 
  fulfilment 
  of 
  a 
  prophecy 
  

   by 
  Thomas 
  the 
  Rhymer 
  that 
  there 
  should 
  be 
  an 
  Eagle 
  in 
  

   the 
  Crags 
  while 
  there 
  ivas 
  a 
  Baird 
  in 
  Auchmedden 
  ; 
  but 
  the 
  

   most 
  remarkable 
  circumstance, 
  and 
  what 
  certainly 
  appears 
  

   incredible, 
  is 
  that 
  when 
  Lord 
  Haddo, 
  eldest 
  son 
  of 
  the 
  Earl 
  

   of 
  Aberdeen, 
  married 
  Miss 
  Christian 
  Baird 
  of 
  New 
  Byth, 
  the 
  

  

  I 
  2 
  

  

  