194 The Booted Eagle and the Snake Eagle 
As usual the nest was in a cork-oak which was swaying in the 
wind. Having taken the first picture apparently unobserved, | 
stooped down out of sight and prepared the camera for another 
attempt. Placing it on the edge of the nest I raised myself gently 
on the chance of not alarming the little fellow but he had detected 
my presence and turned on me furiously. It was comical to see 
such wrath and indignation concentrated in less than 4 in. of white 
down. 
YOUNG SNAKE EAGLE, ANNOYED AT BEING PHOTOGRAPHED. 
Kept in confinement this species soon becomes very tame and 
tractable, even when trapped as an adult bird. On 6 April 1879 
when riding through a glade in a cork wood where these birds nest 
annually, a female came circling overhead, calling out sharply, 
as is their habit when their nest is approacked. I could make 
nothing of it on this day, but subsequently found it about 300 
yards from the spot where she had given the alarm. It contained 
one egg, rather set. This I replaced by a hen’s egg and trapped 
