The  White-tailed  Eagle  was  formerly  much  more

widely  dispersed  over  Britain  than  is  now  the  case ;

still,  we  trust  that  for  years  yet  to  come  it  may

remain  an  ornament  to  some  of  the  wildest  and

most  romantic  scenery  our   isles  can  boast.     We

have  ample  evidence  to  show  that  within  the  past

hundred   years   this   Eagle   actually   bred   on   the

Isle  of   Man,  and  in  the  English  Lake  District  so

recently  as  1835 !     Among  other  English  stations

that  once  could  boast  the  eyrie  of  this  Eagle  may

be  mentioned  Lundy  Island,  the  Isle  of  Wight,  and

possibly  Cornwall.     In  the  Lowlands  of  Scotland

136


THE  WHITE-TAILED  EAGLE  137

it  was  once  even  more  plentiful  than  in  England,
extermination  progressing  northwards,  and  natur-
ally becoming  slower  in  wild  and  remote  areas  far
from  the  haunts  of  men.  Eyries  were  situated  on
Ailsa  Craig,  the  Bass  Rock,  and  in  Galloway  and
Dumfriesshire.  In  Ireland  this  bird  was  formerly
widely  dispersed,  but  trap,  gun,  and  poison  (to  say
nothing  of  the  rascally  collector)  have  done  their
work  only  too  welL  and  its  numbers  have  been
greatly  reduced.  Scattered  eyries  exist  at  the
present  time  in  some  of  the  wilder  western  districts.
In  Scotland  the  chief  stronghold  of  the  White-
tailed  Eagle  is  amongst  the  Hebrides — in  Skye
particularly,  also  in  Eigg,  Scalpa,  North  Uist,
Benbecula,  the  Shiant  Islands,  Rum,  and  Canna.
