FALCONIDAE—EAGLES.
167
13th, 1888 (29. Dec. S). When shot it was flying close to the ground, mobbed by
Rooks. Mr. Harry Garon of High Street, Southend, shot one near there on Oct.
28th, 1888, after it had been observed about for several days (Essex Chronicle,
Nov. 16 and 29. Dec. 22).
Golden Eagle : Aquila chrysaetus.
An occasional visitor only to England, and in fast-decreasing
numbers, though known once to have been resident. It is frequently
recorded as being killed in different parts of England, but in almost
every case these records are found on investigation to relate to the
White-tailed Eagle, from which it may be at once known by its
feathered tarsus.
Mr. Hope says it is " seen passing up the coast and off the main." On March
10th, 1877, a bird, supposed to be of this species, was seen flying over Easton
Park. Being mobbed by Rooks and Jackdaws, it sailed away towards the S. W.
(29. Mar. 24). A gentleman who saw it, and who claimed to be well acquainted
with this species, was satisfied that it was not a young White-tailed Eagle, as he
had a very good view of it, and was sure it had no white about it. A young spe-
cimen, which is still preserved at Nazing Park, was shot at Claverham Bury
Farm, on Nov. 15th, 1858, by Fredk. Carr, jun. Its weight was 9lbs. ; length
from beak to tail 3ft. 4m. ; and expanse of wing 8ft. Jin. (Mr. Villiers Palmer).
Mr. G. W. Johnson, in his History of Great Totham (p. 8), which is dated
September, 1831, says: "An Eagle was seen a few months since in one of the
adjacent woods, which is not a solitary instance, since it is upon record
(Ray's Philosophical Letters, p. 269 ) that in Mr. Wilde's woods in this parish
one was killed in 1684, whose wings were nine feet in expanse."
White-tailed Eagle : Haliaetus albicilla.
Now an occasional winter visitor only to England, though once a
more or less common resident, and still much commoner than the
Golden Eagle, under which
name it is usually recorded
when killed, but from which
it may at once be distin-
guished by its bare and un-
feathered tarsus. It usually
occurs on the coast, and
generally during severe
weather. Adults are very
seldom met with.
Hoy records (12. iii. 436)
that during the cold weather
in the winter of 1829-30 one
was shot in Stour Wood, near
Harwich, while three other
birds (apparently of the same
species) for some time frequented
the rivers Stour and Orwell.