200 The White-Shouldered Eagle 
the yolkless egg we had found. Since 1875 | have visited many 
nests of the White-shouldered Eagle, and every one of these, 
without exception, has been lined with fresh green branches of cork 
or wild olive. Hence I can only imagine that the nest we found had 
been repaired and lined by Storks. 
The Eagles nested in the same tree in the marsh in 1876 
and on several occasions I saw them circling above the plains 
near it. Later in the summer the old alder and a greater part 
of the jungle was destroyed by a big fire and the Eagles there- 
upon occupied an old Stork’s nest in a lofty tree not half a mile 
from their old sanctuary. On 23 February 1877 when snipe- 
shooting I visited this spot. The tree was growing on the banks 
of a stream and close alongside a ford much used by peasants who 
tended the flocks and herds in the neighbourhood. It was a strangely 
frequented spot for Eagles to choose but they no doubt, relied upon 
the awkward nature of the tree. This, a fine black poplar with 
wide-spreading boughs, had no branches for some 12 to 15 ft. 
and was almost too large to swarm, its girth at over 5 ft. from the 
ground exceeding 70 in. Somehow I managed to get a grip of 
the bark and after a slippery scramble reached the lowest bough, 
after which my progress upwards was easy enough. On arriving 
at the great nest I experienced as before some difficulty in sur- 
mounting the edge, since it projected overhead like the top of a 
sailing ship. It was freshly lined with green branches but with- 
out eggs. As I had to return to the Rock next day I gave my 
henchman, Juan Palo, solemn injunctions to visit it later on. This 
he did, but was unable to climb the tree or find anybody who could. 
My descent from this tree was marked by a ludicrous episode 
which it would be hard to experience in any country save Spain. 
I had just slithered down the big trunk to the ground and was in 
the act of picking up my gun which I had rested against a bush 
before my climb, when I was startled by a frantic yell from a 
