16-1 A Trip to the Forest of Marmora. 



bird managed to keep out of the way, where there was so 

 much dense covert ; but it nearly always rose on the further 

 side of a thick tree, and then, flying at a considerable height 

 over the top of the forest, glided round the shoulder of 

 some low hill and settled again after about a mile's flight. 

 The birds were seen both singly and in pairs, and on one 

 occasion I noticed five together. By far the greater number 

 appeared to be males. I occasionally saw them walking 

 under the tall trees, where the undergrowth was thin, when, 

 if we approached too near for their liking, they would hurry 

 away to an open place and rise very lightly. The flight was 

 far lighter and more buoyant than that of Otis tarda. The 

 call of this Bustard is a curious sound, like two big bubbles 

 of a water-bottle, "pah, pah." On one occasion I managed 

 to slip away and stalk a fine male that was shewing off and 

 calling in some thistles. But very soon after I was missed 

 — in less than five minutes — the escort came galloping 

 all over the place looking lor me, shouting and brandishing 

 their long guns ! It was hopeless to do anything under 

 these circumstances. 



Birds-of-Prey were fairly common in the forest, but the 

 only sight of special interest to me was a pair of Golden Eagles 

 (Aguila chrysa'etus) that had a nest in the top of a cork-tree. 

 I was able to identify these birds with certainty, as, for 

 Golden Eagles, they were particularly tame. I got within 

 forty yards of both of them, and could see that they were 

 dark-coloured and, as I thought, small in size. They were 

 fully adult, not shewing a trace of white in the tail. The 

 Serpent-Eagle (Circaetus yallicus) was common in the forest, 

 and I saw two pairs of Bonelli's Eagle (Nisaetus fasciatus). 

 I did not see the Red Kite, which is here a mountain-bird, 

 but the Black Kite w r as always en evidence. The Bald Ibis 

 (Comatibis eremita) was very numerous on the downs at the 

 edge of the forest. It used to pass over and alight on the 

 open spaces where there had been fires. It was breeding 

 in numbers in the Sallee cliffs, but was much later this year 

 than in 1901. 



