174 The Kites and Hawks 
nest of 1871 was in an alder tree only 15 ft. from the ground, or 
rather water, since it was in the midst of the almost impenetrable 
jungle which covers the deep sofos or marshes in the woodland 
districts. Twenty years later the Goshawks still nested in the same 
locality if not in the same tree and the last time I visited the spot, 
in 1903, they were still there. In the interval the old nesting-place 
had been disturbed owing to the work of clearing the sofe, and, 
alas! of draining it too. The alders had been cut down and the 
Goshawks had resorted to an ivy-covered poplar, where there was 
a disused nest of the Booted Eagle about qo ft. from the ground, 
I was at the time unable to climb, and so regretfully delegated 
the task to a naval officer who took from the nest three eggs. 
It was on 2 May, and they were somewhat incubated and stained 
all over with yellow and pale brown like a Grebe’s egg, exactly 
as described by Colonel Irby in the nest he took thirty-two years 
earlier from the same place. Since 1902 the work of clearing the 
jungle has been continued and the Goshawks have been obliged 
to seek other quarters. 
In April 1906 when walking through a very thickly wooded 
portion of the cork forest within a mile of the old nesting-site, 
I put a big bird off a nest near the summit of an ivy-grown 
Spanish oak. A friend with me climbed up and reported two 
eges which I suspected to be Goshawk’s, since he described them 
as being of a bluish tinge. I was most anxious to take some 
Goshawk’s eggs with my own hands, in accordance with the rule 
which I have set before me throughout life where my own ege- 
collection is concerned, but it was useless to touch these unless | 
could identify the bird for certain. So after leaving the spot for 
some hours so as to give the old bird plenty of time to return 
and settle down, I again approached the nest quietly and again 
put her off it. Owing, however, to the dense foliage which formed 
a regular canopy overhead, it was impossible to say for certain 
