were obliged to take to the water for safety: it also flew at dogs, so that its liberty had to be lessened. This bird has now been for some years in the menagerie of the Royal Zoological Society, Phoenix Park, Dublin. A golden eagle, belonging to Mr. Wm. Sinclaire, was a more familiar bird than a sea eagle in his possession, but being kept in town, its docility was not much put to the proof.

Size and Weight.-The golden eagle is generally represented as larger than the sea eagle, but such specimens of the latter as I have examined, were invariably of superior size to the former, and I speak from comparison of adult individuals of the same sex. A similar remark is made in the "Fauna of Cork." Mr. Sinclaire's bird just alluded to, after having been in captivity for a year, had its wings accidentally broken, and was in consequence destroyed: its weight was 7 lbs. 14 oz. The specimen from Donegal in this gentleman's collection weighed on being captured 9 lbs: both of these birds were males. One of those killed in Glenarm Park (sex not noted) weighed 10 lbs. A large female sea eagle obtained in Donegal, and believed to be in her fourth or fifth year, weighed 14 lbs.*

Irides. When visiting in May, 1844, (along with my friend Wm. Ogilby, Esq.,) the magnificent menagerie at Knowsley in Lancashire, the seat of the Earl of Derby, the different coloured irides of two golden eagles attracted my attention; one, a bird five years old, having them golden, while those of the other, whose age was not known, were of a whitish-brown hue. This is mentioned simply as a fact, and not as anything remarkable, as the irides of birds vary in colour at different ages. But I certainly did not expect so great diversity in the colour of the irides, as was exhibited in a pair of condors at the Surrey Zoological Gardens, in April, 1834; those of the male being of a dark dull yellow, while those of the female were of a brilliant red.

Great eagle-cage in the Zoological Gardens, Phonix Park, Dublin. More eagles of different species being brought together here than perhaps in any other place, Mr. R. Ball, the Honorary Secre

*Mr. J. V. Stewart.

tary, at my request, kindly supplied the following account of them in July, 1845.

"The great eagle-cage in the Garden of the Royal Zoological Society of Ireland is 36 feet long, 16 broad, and 16 high, and was erected at the expense of Sir Philip Crampton, Bart., as a place for the exercise of the large Carnivora, and consequently called a Deambulatorium. It failed in its original object. A tigress placed in it quailed, and seemed most anxious to regain her small den; a lioness and a leopard had to be forced into it. Sometime afterwards I had seven Eagles placed in it as an experiment, and they seemed to agree perfectly. To these, additions have been made for the last four years, until the number now amounts to 17: viz., 3 Golden, 2 White-headed, and 12 Sea Eagles; for some time a Choka Eagle was of the number, but it has since been removed to a smaller cage. The eagles live together, if not in harmony, at least in a sort of mutual respect towards each other. I know of only one quarrel, and at this I happened to be present. A sea eagle pounced on a golden eagle; the latter threw itself on its back, when the former with its talons seized it by the legs until it seemed to faint in agony, while the assailant gave forth its loudest barking cry in triumph. I had some difficulty in beating this bird off the other with a pole; it was removed from the cage, and shortly afterwards accidentally killed. On another occasion, a golden eagle was found drowned in the bath, or large trough in which the eagles delight to roll; it was supposed by the keeper to have been forced under water by one of the sea eagles, but more probably it got cramped, as the birds seem often to carry their bathing to excess. It is a remarkable fact, that a sea eagle but one year old, seemed to be generally acknowledged as the superior of the whole. This bird seized the first piece of food thrown into the cage as its acknowledged right; but should any other eagle happen to get possession of it, the food was instantly given up on the approach of the young one, which, when full grown, was about the largest of the flock. The bathing of the eagles alluded to is remarkable. On observing that these birds, which in menageries are generally kept without water, exhibited a great desire

to wash themselves, a large vessel was provided: when fresh water is put into this vessel, it is at once occupied by one of them, and surrounded by the others waiting their turn for a dip; they constantly lie in it for some time until completely wetted."

Has been obtained in the south of Ireland.

IN September, 1845, Mr. R. Davis, jun., of Clonmel, wrote to me respecting a bird then in his possession: "In contour, bill, eyes, legs, &c., it is a miniature of the golden eagle, but about one-third less than a male of that species; except the tail-coverts and some spots on the wings and breast, it is entirely of a very deep glossy blackish-brown: the body is of small size, comparatively with the head, wings, and tail." [Claws, yellow; beak, horn-colour, with a yellow streak at the base; weight, rather exceeding that of a full-grown raven.*] This gentleman subsequently forwarded for my inspection, a coloured drawing of the bird, (which he believed to be of this species,) representing it in immature plumage. A wood-cut taken from the drawing has appeared in the second edition of Yarrell's British Birds, vol. i. p. 10, and in the Zoologist for January, 1846. In a communication made to the Annals of Natural History for Nov., 1845, p. 351, Mr. Davis stated that the bird was shot when preying on a rabbit, in January, 1845, on the estate of the Earl of Shannon, in the county of Cork. Another eagle of the same species, said to be similarly marked, but rather lighter in colour, had been killed there a few days before. The two birds had been observed for several weeks previously, sweeping over the low grounds between Castle-martyr and Clay Castle, near Youghal. In a letter from Dr. Harvey of Cork, dated Oct. 30, 1845, it was remarked, with reference to the Irish specimen :-"Mr.

*Noted by Mr. S. Moss, of Youghal, who received the bird in a fresh state.

Parker took a portrait of the little eagle while I had it for a short time, and mentioned a singular coincidence. When on a visit to Mr. Butler of Waterville, a few days before the bird came under his inspection, that gentleman had mentioned a small brown eagle, in all respects like a golden eagle, except in being about half the size, as frequenting the mountains above Cahirciveen, in Kerry: he had seen it occasionally during the last seven or eight years. To the Rev. Mr. Bastable, a clergyman of the neighbourhood, it was likewise known." I have little doubt, also, that a bird particularly described to myself, when visiting Horn Head (Donegal), in 1832, as having been shot there the previous year, was of this species.

The Spotted Eagle has not been met with in England or Scotland. In Continental Europe, it appears to inhabit chiefly the east and south; but has been obtained in most of the countries southward of the Baltic Sea, including Belgium and France.

THE SEA EAGLE.

White-tailed Eagle.

Haliaëtos albicilla, Briss. (sp.)

Falco ossifragus, Linn.

Is found in suitable localities throughout Ireland, and is resident.

Distribution, Eyries, Habits, &c.

THE first Sea Eagle I had the satisfaction of seeing in Ireland, was on the 25th June, 1832, when visiting the majestic promontory of Horn Head (Donegal), which rises precipitously from the ocean to an elevation of nearly 600 feet. On looking over the cliff on the eastern side, one of these birds rose from a platform of rock about sixty yards distant. Immediately afterwards, on reaching the northern side, I perceived another sitting on her nest, about a fourth of the way from the summit of the precipice;

* A gentleman whose splendid collection of coloured drawings of native birds, mostly life-size, and all executed by himself, attracted great admiration in the Natural History Section of the British Association at Cork, in 1843.

when she flew off, two eggs, greenish-white in colour, like those of the swan, (Cygnus olor), were exposed to view. Very near to this was another nest at a similar distance from the top, but it was untenanted, and from its proximity to the other, I should rather suppose that both had belonged to the same pair of eagles in different years, than that they were occupied by two pair at the same time. Less than a furlong distant to the eastward of the Head, there was a nest similarly situated, and containing two eaglets. To obtain these, we engaged a man accustomed to the apparently hazardous exploit of descending precipices. A rope being attached to his body for safety, and a basket to his back for the reception of the eaglets, he was lowered to the nest, from which he brought up the birds without injury either to himself or them. The parents were most vociferous during the robbing of their eyrie, taking hurried flights, evidently in despair, towards the nest, but did not attack, nor even closely approach the plunderer, nor did they come within fair gun-shot of the rock. The eaglets were almost entirely feathered. The first layer of this nest, as well as that of the other two, was composed of strong stems of heather; being unable by looking over the rock to see the lining, I had it brought up, and found it to be the tender twigs of heath, and plants of Luzula sylvatica, both of which grow on the summit of the cliff. About the nest, there were many legs of rabbits, and the remains of puffins (Mormon fratercula, Temm.) On the following day I saw five sea eagles in mature plumage,*

*

* Excepting eaglets, the gamekeeper had never seen any but white-tailed, or adult, eagles here at this season. Mr. J. V. Stewart, however, with reference to this part of the country, remarks:- "In spring I have seen the white-tailed eagle apparently paired with Ossifragus (the adult with the immature bird), and I have reason to believe that they breed together." He adds:-"The males at this season are very assiduous in their attention to the females, and very pugnacious in their rivalry. Some time ago, two of them near this fought so furiously for a female, who remained soaring above, that having in the contest fixed their talons firmly into each other's breasts, they dropped to the ground, and there continued the struggle so fiercely, that a peasant passing by, was enabled to despatch them both with a stick.”—Mag. Nat. Hist. vol. v. p. 580, 1832. I have been informed of another instance (which happened in 1836 ?) of two eagles, that after fighting for some time in the air, fell to the ground, in a garden near Newtowncunningham in the same county, and were secured. If gallantry be really the cause of such combats, birds about to pair for the first time are probably the disputants, as from the circumstance of a pair frequenting