Hedgerow Life 
them, if you do so quietly. The larger 
and stronger eagles and hawks are not 
nearly so brave, but will always fly off 
at once as soon as you come near, and 
generally do not return until you have 
departed, though some of them fly round 
in great circles at a respectful distance. 
Once I had an eagle fly into the tree 
and sit on the branch on which I was 
trying to photograph its nest and eggs ; 
but I feel sure it had no intention of 
attacking me, and it is possible that, 
as the tree was a thick pine-tree, it did 
not even see me until it had flown in, 
This was a very small kind of eagle, 
the booted eagle, which nests in the 
pine-forests in the south of Spain. 
The birds which nest regularly in 
the hedgerow are mostly of small size ; 
the largest are the wood-pigeon and the 
58 
