WHITE-TAILED EAGLE. 
175 
beneath. * Here he resides constantly at one 
season, or he finds a safe shelter during the night, 
after his more extended hunting excursions ; his 
screams scarcely sound above the noise of the 
surge below, or the storm which may rage around 
the rocky pinnacles ; but the occasional shriek 
heard in a moment of quiet, tells forcibly on the 
imagination while viewing such scenes, and the 
noble bird himself alone attracts the eye amidst 
the numerous sea-fowl his companions, his pale 
grey tinted plumage and pure outspread tail, 
being marked objects, when opposed to the dark 
green sea, or the deep and rich shades of many 
of these splendid precipices. In such situations 
the eyries are most frequently found, and the 
nest is there reared, and the young are hatched 
in safety, notwithstanding the bribes offered for 
their destruction. The nest is also sometimes 
placed in more inland sites. The precipitous 
crags overhanging some alpine loch are often 
chosen, and such is “ Eagles’ Crag,” among the 
lakes of the English border, and the “ Eagle’s 
nest,” at Killarney. Trees are also selected, 
* Such situations, according to Mr Thopmson, are the 
most commonly selected eyries in Ireland, and there the 
Sea Eagle seems far from being rare. The Horn-head, 
Malm-head, the extreme northern point of Ireland, 
Achil-head, and Fair-head, a basaltic promontory in An- 
trim, are among its maritime stations ; and they breed 
inland among the, Mourne mountains. 
