THE ERNE. 
Aquila Albicilla. 
Grande Pygargue. 
White-tailed Eagle. 
Cinereous Eagle. 
Briss. Av. i. 4 27 . 
Buff . Ois. i. 99 
Will* Orn. 0 6. 
Brit . Zool. Arcl . ICool. ii. 214. 
Though some authors have ranked this subject among the Vultures, 
Mr. Pennant has observed, that it can have no claim to that Genus, as 
the head and neck are wholly feathered ; whereas the head and neck of the 
Vulture are eitlier quite bare, or only covered with down* The Erne like- 
wise differs from the Eagle, in the want of plumage on the legs, and in the 
colour of the bill, which in the Eagle is a bluish black, but in the Erne a 
pale yellow. This bird is found in all the northern parts of Europe, as 
high as Iceland and Lapmark, in Greenland, Scotland, and the adjacent 
Isles. It is two feet nine inches long, and almost seven feet from wing to 
wing: is the first year wholly dusky; in the second, the cinereous co- 
lour commences, the tail becomes white, and the end of its feathers, for 
some time, tipped with black. If not more vigorous than the Eagle, it is 
at least more bloody and rapacious: it will attack large animals, fish, and 
birds; especially those which dive, it will watch with great attention, and 
pounces on them as they rise. It will venture to make its attack on young 
seals; in this attempt, however, it often suffers by fixing on old ones, which 
dive into the water, and drown it. The female is larger and more 
ferocious than the male ; they live in pairs, and build their nest in inac- 
cessible rocks. The natives of Greenland use the skin of this bird for 
cloathing. 
