little effort, and should he spy a carcase, hovers over it in short curves, until satisfied as to his security
should he alight upon it.
“ The cry is so shrill, that in calm weather one may hear it at the distance o f a mile; and it often emits
a kind o f clear yelp, which resembles the syllable /click, klick, /click, or quee/c, qneek, queek, and which seem s
to be an expression of anger or impatience.” (Macgillivary, ‘ British Birds,’ vol. iii. pp. 228, 229.)
“ T he Sea-Eagle,” says Mr. Wolley, “ generally makes its nest in the high cliffs of the coast, but also
occasionally breeds inland. In the former situation an eyrie had nothing but a very little heather, grass,
and moss used in its construction. Two other nests were made principally of sea-weed, and were in
such “ tremendous cliffs” that my informant’s hair ‘ gets stro n g ’ when he thinks o f them. In the
Shetlands an inaccessible eyrie was pointed out to me on the top of a stack, o r steep detached ro ck ; and I have
seen another such stack on the north-east coast of Scotland, which was also said to have an eyrie at its
summit. In inland situations, the Sea-Eagle generally establishes itself upon a rock or islet in the middle
o f a loch. Here it builds, upon the ground or in a tree, a nest whose construction does not differ from that
o f the Golden Eagle, there being always iu it a certain amount o f Luzula sylwtica. The tree is not always
a large o n e ; I have seen two nests o f different years in trees on separate islands in one loch, each only
about four feet from the ground. I can call to mind nine instances o f such island eyries. The old birds
do not always calculate the depth o f the water, as there is one place at least to which a man can wade.
Where swimming is necessary to get at the eggs, it is often an affair of danger, as the birds will do their
best to drown the enemy with their wings. In two spots I have seen large Scotch firs, which have been
formerly tenanted by Sea-Eagles— one by the side of a loch, the other several miles away from any piece of
water, in a sort o f open wood of similar trees. The nest had been in a fork where three branches met, 20
feet high, and, as in other cases, the main trunk bore its weight. In one instance the crossed and nearly
horizontal trunks of two small trees formed the support. The eggs, two or three in number, are always
probably, when first laid, o f a spotless white, and afterwards receive as stains the slight colour with which
they are marked. They are laid a week or a fortnight later than those o f the Golden Eagle, and are
generally smaller.” (Hewitson’s ‘ Eggs o f British Birds,’ 3rd edit. vol. i. p. 15.)
Macgillivray states that toward the middle of spring these Eagles begin to construct their nest, which is of
great size, being about 5 feet in diameter, flat, and composed o f sticks, twigs, heath, dried sea-weeds, tufts o f
grass, wool, and other materials, and that “ the young make their appearance a t the beginning of June, and
are then covered with a down o f a greyish-white colour. They are plentifully supplied with food, and grow
rapidly, but do not leave the nest until the middle o f August, when they are enticed abroad by their parents,
who continue to supply them with food for many days. When the breeding-season is over, the young
disperse; and although these birds are not o f social habits, several individuals may often be seen, a t no great
distance, traversing the hills or shores where there is plunder to be obtained. Their food consists of
carrion o f every description, stranded fish, young sea-birds, and small quadrupeds, for which they search
the moors and pastures. Their sight must be k een; but in looking for prey they do not rise to a vast
elevation, as has been alleged, but fly at the height of a few hundred yards, sweeping along the hill-sides with
a steady motion, or winding in curves with outspread wings. I have often seen them, far out a t sea,
hovering and sailing in this manner ; and several persons have told me that they sometimes clutch up fishes
that happen to come to the surface. They may also occasionally be observed watching on the banks o f a river,
and attacking the salmon and trout when they come into shallow water. That they fare well is evinced by
the abundance of provision which they bring to their young ; but their courage and address do not seem to
be equal to their powers-; for, unless pressed by famine, they scarcely venture to molest an animal larger
than a hare. Grouse are sometimes destroyed by it, and instances have been known o f its carrying off a
domestic fowl that had straggled to a distance from the house; but the Sea-Eagle has more o f the Vulture
than o f the Falcon in its character, and a t all times would be well content with mere carrion.”
The adults have the lanceolate feathers clothing the head and neck pale brown, with a narrow line of
dark brown down their shafts; all the upper surface dark brown, each feather broadly edged with whitish
brown; wings dark brown, with light shafts, and the tertiaries narrowly edged a t the tip with light brown •
breast mottled light brown and whitish, and with a stripe o f dark brown down the shafts; under surface lighter
than the upper, and the feathers less conspicuously margined; tail white, stained with brown a t the base,
the longest coverts also white, mottled with brown a t the base, with an irregular crescent o f brown a t the
t ip ; cere wine-yellow; bill and legs straw-yellow; claws black.
Hie young birds have the feathers o f the head and neck dark brown, with paler tip s ; upper surface
reddish brown, with dark shafts; under surface brown, of different tints, with a few white feathers
interspersed; primaries brownish black; tail variegated with hair and clove-brown, deepening towards
the tip. I
The foremost figure represents a female, about one-third o f the natural size.