r.jKi) LiFK IN 'Mil-: 1)Uaki:\siu-:rg 355' 



nearest tree where the young took cover, while the males 

 and large females stood in a circle round the tree and 

 so prevented the eagle from getting at their young. I 

 have never seen, or heard of, an eagle attacking a full 

 grown baboon, but they undoubtedly take the young: 

 whenever they get a favourable opportunity. The ap 

 pearance of a Black Eagle causes a tremendous outrcy 

 and conuuotion amongst a troop of baboons, the hoarse 

 bark of the male mingling with the shrill screams of the 

 females and thei'r young, as they make for cover. Rab- 

 bits and hares are also taken by the eagle when oppor- 

 tunit\' offers, the former being fairly plentiful in the 

 Drakensberg. I have not heard of partridge or other 

 birds being taken, but where the smaller mammals are 

 not so fjlentiful they would probably t^ke to killing birds. 



The Black Eagle is a fairly silent bird, and unlike the 

 Bateleur or Sea Eagle, it is not often heard calling, 

 although I have occasionally heard its shrill cry, usually 

 when the bird is flying at an immense height. The cry 

 is not unlike that of Buteo jakal, only if anything a little 

 sharper. 



The nest of the Black Eagle is genearlly built high up 

 in some inaccessible krantz, and I have not heard of- 

 anyone yet being able to take the eggs of this bird on 

 the Xatal side of the Drakensberg. I once found a nest 

 in the Little Tugela Valley, situated in a krantz about 

 400 feet sheer drop ; half way up, a bush or strong shrub 

 was growing out of a crevice or cleft in the krantz, and 

 on this bush a pair of eagles had built their huge nest 

 of sticks, lined with grass. By climbing to the top of 

 the cliff one could see down into the nest, and with the 

 aid of field glasses the contents could be seen quite clear- 

 ly. The first time I examined the nest it contained one 

 which looked like a white ball of fluff. This pair of 

 eagles had been doing a good deal of damage to native 

 herds of goats and sheep, feeding on the slopes of the 

 Little Berg, so that I made up my mind to destroy them 



