William Thompson

“ Two of these birds (adults) were seen by us the next day,soaring above a lake in the island, and we were informed by Lieutenant Reynolds Footnote 9 that four pair of sea eagles breed in Achil. With respect to their being in so wild a district comparatively fearless of man, it may be stated, that the gentleman just named when once shooting there, had, with his first barrel brought down a grouse, which an eagle stooped to carry off, and when just in the act of seizing, was itself shot by the second barrel. ”

“ Thomas Knox of Toomavara, (Tipperary) , remarked in a letter dated November 22, 1837, with reference to two young sea eagles, birds of that year, which he had in captivity, that he attributed their clean healthy state in a great measure to " having placed in their cage, which is very large, a tank of water in which they have full room to wash themselves. They seldom miss a day without doing so, and the time preferred is immediately after eating : even in cold weather, they seem to enjoy the ablution." Footnote 20 Their food is varied as much as possible ”

“ 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 a particular locality, not only in the breeding season, but throughout the year, it would seem that the species is monogamous, or pairs for life. ”

“ An adult bird was shot in the winter of 1842-43? at Larne Lough, under the following circumstances : — A wildfowl shooter was lying in ambush on the shore, in the hope that the flowing tide would bring some wigeon within range, when the eagle appeared overhead, intent, as he imagined, on his ' ' game." The royal bird floating in the air looked down upon the swimming wild-fowl, expanded the claws of one of its feet, then clasped them together, — an act, perhaps, even more suggestive to the shooter of the bird's intent, than was the air-drawn dagger to Macbeth ”

“ I would almost call it a species, if A. albicilla did not vary so much. The size is much greater than ordinary, and the bearing more lofty ; besides, our living specimen, though young when we got it, assumed the mastery over a number of others, and has kept it ever since.Footnote 15 It cannot be that this is merely the female, or else in about thirty living sea eagles which we have had, we never had any but this one. There is a good deal of white on the back, and the breast is strongly and very beautifully spotted with that colour. ”

“ They sometimes swallow small birds whole, and the feathers are afterwards ejected in castings about the size of a hen's egg; but when not very hungry, they pluck the feathers off. When young, one of them would occasionally get out between the bars of the cage, and take a flight about the place ”

“ Footnote 2 The colour of the head and neck in preserved specimens of adult birds, (having the tail pure white,) examined by me, have presented considerable difference in this respect, and, though none had this portion of plumage altogether white, yet some were marked so faintly with very pale ash-grey, as to exhibit the appearance of soiled white, which, contrasted with the dark hue of the back and wings, gives from a dis- tance the appearance above described. ”

“ On the following day I saw five sea eagles in mature plumage Footnote 1 all that were then said to be at " the Horn." The bird which we raised from the nest containing eggs, was thought by the gamekeeper to have no partner, as he had killed a male bird a few weeks before. I gazed for a long time at three of these eagles, both when they were at rest and on wing ”

“ The writer has visited fourteen eagles' nests, and robbed several of the eggs, which were never more than two in number. A few years ago it was considered a dangerous undertaking to rob an eyrie, and persons went armed with guns to protect the aggressor, but my informant has never himself been assailed, nor known men to be attacked Footnote 14 by the parent birds. They appear to breed for a number of years in the same nest, renewing it every season. ”

“ When in June, 1834, at Achil Head (Mayo) , which is fondly, but erroneously, believed by the inhabitants of the island, to approximate the shores of the western world more nearly than any other European land, and stretching out afar into the Atlantic, is rendered sublime, less from altitude than from the utter barrenness of its desolate and inaccessible cliffs, a suitable accompaniment to the scene appeared in a sea eagle, which rose startled from her nest on the ledge of an adjoining precipice. Mr. ”

“ 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. ”

“ In 1838, but few fish died, and the eagles, wihch made their appearance about the end of July, stayed but for a short period. My informant attributed the fatality of the fish to the " hot weather," stating that where they died, the water was but from one to three feet in depth, and consequently would be much acted on by heat. The lake generally is shallow, its average depth being about eight feet, and there is no apparent current through it Footnote 19
Eagles obtained by simple means. ”