292 BIRD-HUNTING 



be addled. I have noticed before how frequently 

 one finds addled eggs of the larger raptorial 

 birds, and also how much the silver poplar is 

 favoured by them for nesting purposes. 



This nest was of immense size, and had a 

 whitish look about it, also as described by Prince 

 Rudolf; but he must have drawn on his imagination 

 in his account of the terrible stench exhaled by the 

 bird he shot in Slavonia. There was no very offen- 

 sive smell either when we skinned this bird or 

 afterwards — for I slept several nights with the fresh 

 skin lying not far from my bed. Nor was skinning 

 the Griffon which I shot in Albania such a very 

 objectionable undertaking. In fact, neither of these 

 two Vultures smelt so much as a Pelican, and not 

 nearly so much as a Pygmy Cormorant. This last, 

 I believe, is called in Germany the Schtinker. At 

 any rate Rettig always called it that, and it certainly 

 justifies the name, for it is the foulest bird I ever 

 skinned. 



I have often wondered how it is that such huge 

 birds as Griffon Vultures, which always live together 

 in great numbers in places where they are found at 

 all, can find enough carrion lying about to support 

 themselves. Here it was a common sight every day 

 to see the Griffons sailing along in great numbers 

 searching for dead bodies, and as two or three 

 Griffons can put away a dead sheep in a short time, 



