White-tailed Eagle.
Haliaëtus albicilla.
Upper parts brown, head and neck lightest; under parts chocolate-brown; tail white; bill, cere, and feet yellowish white; claws black. In the young the tail is brown. Length of the male, two feet four inches; of the female, two feet ten inches.
Immature specimens of the white-tailed, or sea-eagle, or erne, are from time to time obtained in England during the autumn and winter months. They are, probably, in nearly all cases migrants from northern Europe on their way south. The British race—the sea-eagles that bred formerly in many localities on the coasts of Scotland and Ireland, and in the northern islands—is now all but extinct. The bird no longer breeds anywhere on the mainland, and but one or two pairs are known to inhabit the islands.
The sea-eagle has a more varied dietary than the species last described, and he hunts for food both on sea and land. In his habits he is by turns osprey, falcon, and raven. Like the osprey, he drops from a considerable height on to a fish seen near the surface, and, striking his talons into it, bears it away to land. But he preys more on puffins, guillemots, and other sea-fowl, than on fish. Like the golden eagle, he destroys mountain hares, grouse, and ptarmigan, and is regarded by the shepherd as the worst enemy to the flock. But the shepherd has his revenge, for the erne is a great lover of carrion, and may be easily poisoned.
The breeding habits of this species are similar to those of the golden eagle. The eggs, two in number, are white, without markings.
Its yelping cry is very powerful, and shriller than the scream of the golden eagle.
Sparrow-Hawk.
Accipiter nisus.
Upper parts dark bluish grey, with a white spot on the nape; under parts reddish white, transversely barred with deep brown; tail grey, barred with brownish black; beak blue, lightest at the base; cere, irides, and feet yellow. Female: upper parts brown, passing into blackish grey; under parts greyish white, barred with dark grey. Length of male, twelve inches; of female, fifteen inches.