200 Mr. C. Farman on some of the Birds of Prey 



iog noise, as a warning to the female, who instantly leaves the 

 nest and joins her partner in his circling evolutions high up 

 above their eyry. 



Owing to their great sagacity, I found it extremely difficult 

 to approach within shot of them ; the way in which I ultimately 

 succeeded was by riding up to them on horseback. When I 

 discovered a nest I rode straight up to it at full gallop, and as 

 the bird left its nest I pulled up short and shot it ; in this way 

 I succeeded in securing many good specimens, and in one in- 

 stance I was fortunate enough to secure both birds and their 

 nest of two eggs. 



During the breeding-season, if at no other time, the male 

 birds are extremely pugnacious ; and many a desperate encounter 

 between them have I witnessed. On one occasion, when riding 

 home to Shitangick from the works, my attention was drawn to 

 a pair of these Eagles by their loud croaking and hoarse shrieks, 

 which they were both uttering with as much force as their lungs 

 would permit ; and I then witnessed one of the most exciting 

 and desperate duels that ever took place between two birds. 

 The encounter took place at from two to three hundred feet above 

 the ground, and lasted a good twenty minutes. They began the 

 engagement by flying round each other at some little distance, 

 and every now and then one of them would make a dash in at 

 the other, which avoided it in the most dexterous manner, and 

 in his turn became the aggressor ; this, however, only appeared 

 to be their method of " squaring-up '^ to each other; for they 

 now went at it in good earnest. After separating from each 

 other for some distance, one of them suddenly turned, and with 

 full force dashed in at his opponent, who also turned to receive 

 the attack, and uttering a hoarse croak they closed with each 

 other. The melee which now ensued, in which, beak, claws, 

 and wings were equally active, and of which little could be di- 

 stinguished but a mass of perturbed feathers rolling in the air, 

 is far beyond my powers of description. At last they clutched 

 each other with such a firm grasp that, neither having its 

 wings at liberty, they both came tumbling down in each other's 

 embrace for a distance of a hundred feet or more, when they 

 released their hold and separated for a while ; and thus ended the 



