from Slavonia and Hungary. 131 



through^ being a succession of woodland, coppice, marsh, and 

 meadow. Hundreds of Herodii were passing overhead, 

 including a party of Spoonbills, which our Slav driver 

 informed us were locally known by a name equivalent to 

 " Spoon-Geese/^ In a marshy meadow we came across some 

 two hundred Glossy Ibises feeding ; but they only permitted 

 us to approach within about eighty yards, and then took 

 flight : our driver termed them " Black Snipe/^ From Asanja 

 our route for some miles was along a narrow path through 

 an oak-forest, almost every tree of which was affected by 

 mistletoe. Eagles were numerous, but only a momentary 

 glimpse was caught of them between the trees. On emerging 

 from the wood, we skirted the northern end of the Obedska 

 Bara, which is here three quarters of a mile in width and 

 much overgrown with reeds and sallows. We arrived at 

 Obrez about noon, and found it a most miserable village. 

 More than half of its turf-built houses were in ruins, and 

 their dilapidated chimneys afforded suitable sites for the 

 numerous nests of the White Stork. After luncheon, in the 

 shape of beer, black bread, and a kind of sour cream-cheese 

 made from sheep^s milk, we accompanied a jager to the 

 wood and marsh on the north side of the village. In the 

 wood was a nest of either the White-tailed or the Imperial 

 Eagle (for both species were seen in the vicinity) — an 

 immense structure, quite ninety feet from the ground, in a 

 gigantic oak of such dimensions that climbing was entirely 

 out of the question. Other birds were scarce, with the excep- 

 tion of the Great Spotted Woodpecker, which was abundant. 

 The marsh was some miles in length, and here margined on 

 both sides by forest, rendering it particularly secluded. A 

 pair of Imperial Eagles occupied posts on a couple of dead 

 trees close by ; above soared a White-tailed Eagle, and over 

 the marsh several Marsh- Harriers, Black Terns, and one or 

 two White- winged Black Terns were hovering ; while from 

 the reeds there arose several White-eyed Ducks, Pygmy 

 Cormorants, and Squacco Herons. On entering the m.arsh 

 with our wading-boots (which were absolutely indispensable, 

 owing to the prodigious numbers of leeches) we found that, 



