37 
its nest on the ground. This species 
never flies, like other owls, in search of 
prey, but sits quiet on an eminence 
watching like a cat the appearance of 
mice or other vermin. No partridges 
are found in these Isles, and many of the 
other birds migrate to a warmer clime on 
the approach of winter. 
The lofty cliffs impending over the 
ocean, are the haunts of eagles, falcons, 
ravens, hawks, hooded crows, &c. The 
Erne-eagles, which are very ravenous, 
and destructive among the lambs, pos¬ 
sess the most exalted precipices, and, 
like the falcons, will not admit of any 
society. This, Pliny in his Hist . Nat. 
lib. 10. c, 3. beautifully expresses:— 
“ Unum par Aquilarum magno ad popu~ 
landum tractu , ut satietur , indiget: deter - 
minant ergo spatia nec in proximo prcedan 
tur” 
A premium of three shillings and four- 
pence is obtained for killing one of these 
