40 WITH THE U. S. NATURALISTS 



second, to feel the talons of the infuriated birds 

 in his back, but, somehow, he managed to crash 

 and break his way over the edge of the nest and 

 rolled, half-blinded and utterly breathless, into 

 the more firmly woven center, just saving himself 

 from falling on the eggs. 



That instant the Fish-Hawk struck. 



The talons went into the boy's shoulder, making 

 four ugly wounds. 



The boy yelled with the pain, but he was safe. 

 Had the Fish-Hawk struck one second earlier, 

 nothing could have saved Shan from a fall, which 

 would have meant death or crippling. Now, at 

 least, he was in the nest. 



A Fish-Hawk's eyrie seems of huge size, when 

 looked at from below, but its interior gives small 

 space for a combat with two fierce and angry birds. 



Shan drew his knife and crouched. 



The birds wheeled in circles overhead, scream- 

 ing savagely. Instinctively they knew that the 

 boy's knife spelt danger. 



For several minutes the lad waited, tense, mo- 

 mentarily expecting a dropping blow from the sky. 

 None came. Without relaxing his vigilant watch, 

 Shan cautiously shifted his position until, stamp- 

 ing his foot clear through the loosely woven nest. 



