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white-tailed eagle 
though much less frequently. We visited a nest 
placed on an aged larch, growing on one of the 
romantic islands in Loch Awe. It was a large 
fabric of sticks, placed about half way up the 
tree, (the nest of a Sparrowhawk was a model of 
it in miniature,) built close to the stem, very flat, 
but strongly composed of sticks and roots, and 
lined in a very miscellaneous manner ; wool 
formed the greatest part, moss also, and a child's 
bonnet, and part of a bridle were in its struc- 
ture.* The eggs are generally two in number, 
larger than those of the Golden Eagle, round in 
form, and pure white, or with very pale indistinct 
blotches. In England the breeding places of the 
Sea Eagle are now very rare, perhaps not more 
than one or two. The birds themselves are, 
however, not unfrequently met with and shot, 
both in, the south and in the border counties 
of Scotland, which are also beyond their breeding 
range ; but the greater part of the birds thus 
killed are in immature plumage. 
From its occurrence in greatest numbers near 
the sea, or in the vicinity of some extensive piece 
of water, the commonly used name has been 
* Mr Thompson describes a nest on the “ Horn-head,” 
as composed in its “ first layer : it was composed of strong 
stems of heather, and was lined with the tender twigs of 
heath, and with plants of Luciola sylvatica.” — Mag. of 
Zool. and Bot. II. p. 47. 
