142 FIFTEEN DAYS ON THE DANUBE. 
Eagle evoked the surprise and delight of my friend Homeyer. 
To my great astonishment Brehm had not yet arrived, the 
rocks which he had baited with his kid seeming to have had 
uncommon attractions for him. Bombelles had been lucky 
enough to bring home a Sea-Hagle, singularly small but very 
interesting in colour. I had never before seen a bird of this 
species in similar plumage, for it was in the intermediate 
stage between the brown-grey immature dress and the pale 
yellow of the adult, and one might even have called it 
mottled. The beak was still black, the feet light flaxen- 
yellow, the back had a pronounced brownish colour, and the 
breast was already light yellow. My brother-in-law had 
likewise brought back another very interesting bird, and by 
so doing had added a new species of eagle to our collection ; 
for to our universal admiration a very large female Imperial 
Eagle was lying on the deck with a bullet-hole through the 
centre of its breast. Leopold had also killed it at a nest in the 
Fruska-Gora. While at a Cinereous Vulture’s nest his experi- 
ences had been similar to mine of to-day, for the great bird 
would not leave its dwelling, and though he had often seen 
its head protruding, he had thought it unsportsmanlike to 
attempt so uncertain a shot at so small a mark, and, after 
fruitless efforts, had left the place. He had a further bit of 
bad luck at a Short-toed Eagle’s nest to which he had been 
taken, and where he had unfortunately wounded the bird and 
had failed to find it. This was the second and last inhabited 
nest of the Short-toed Eagle which we came across during 
the whole trip. 
Homeyer had remained faithful to his scientific studies, for 
he had devoted his whole attention to the small birds, and had 
come back with a beautifully coloured Oriole, a Turtle-Dove, 
and a variety of other smaller birds. We could wait no 
longer for Brehm, for time was pressing, and it was already 
late in the afternoon; so we had a hasty dinner, and then my 
