FOURTH DAY. 57 
pair who were trying to drive away an intruder from their 
territory. It was a splendid sight to see the three great 
birds pursuing each other in low circles over the bushes and 
then mounting into higher regions and swooping down in 
playful fashion, all the while sounding their loud cries. I was 
delighted at this sign of their perfect feeling of security and 
absence of suspicion, as it showed me that the owners of the 
nest had not the slightest inkling of our presence. In a few 
minutes the three eagles disappeared in different directions, 
doubtless going about their usual business of seeking food for 
their young ones. 
Another half-hour of perfect quiet passed by, giving me 
time to make a thorough study of my surroundings, and of 
the lively interesting habits of the marsh- and water-birds, 
and the various songsters which were flying about. A pair of 
Pygmy Eagles passed very low over our heads, and had I 
not been waiting for the Sea-Hagle I could easily have shot 
them right and left. These small but particularly rare and 
interesting eagles were carefully entered in my note-book, as 
I knew that their appearance would be of great interest, 
especially to Homeyer, who was much occupied with the 
Pygmy Hagle, and hoped great things of our journey in con- 
nexion with this bird. 
The fact that they were a paired couple, one perfectly dark 
and the other quite light-coloured, formed another argu- 
ment against the separation of the Booted from the Pygmy 
Hagle—a question in which we were much interested, and 
which has so long been a matter of dispute. 
The cries of the hungry young Sea-Hagles kept getting 
louder, and the moment when the old birds would return to 
the nest with plunder seemed to be approaching. Suddenly 
I saw an eagle above the bushes on the other side of the 
channel, but still a long way off. It darted straight towards 
the nest, took a sweep round the high wood, and a few seconds 
