488 ORNITHOLOGICAL SKETCHES 
locality. In the Sierra Nevada I caught sight of it, but only 
in the distance; and one of my attendants found a nest, but 
could not possibly get to it owing to the steepness of the 
cliff. 
In Portugal I saw stuffed specimens in collections, and 
learned from trustworthy sources that it bred there in suit- 
able localities ; a nest was even said to have been situated at 
no great distance from Lisbon. 
In the range of the Picos de Europa, in the north of Spain, 
I observed several of these birds wheeling about over the 
valleys. I also found a nest in an inaccessible precipice, and 
while still making ineffectual attempts to get to it, the old 
bird flew over me several times within a few yards; but I 
could never manage to use my gun, as I had to hold on to 
the rock with my hands. When I was going back, and by 
an easier way, it again flew towards me, and settled close by 
on a dead tree that projected from the cliff, from which I 
brought it down with a ball. 
I never saw this eagle in the Sierra de Gredos, which is so 
full of precipices, snow-fields, and alpine forms of the grandest 
description, nor did [I receive any trustworthy information 
about it from the natives of that district. 
In the wooded spurs of the Sierra Guadarrama I only saw 
it a long way off; but one of my attendants was lucky enough 
to find a nest, and shot the female, a splendid and very large 
specimen. I was delighted at the finding of this nest, as it 
afforded an opportunity of distinctly refuting an erroneous 
opinion entertained even by many naturalists. People in 
general believe that the “Stein” Eagle nests exclusively in 
rocks ; others allow that in places where there are no rocks 
it builds on trees, but that it only does so from necessity. 
This is quite a mistake; the “Stein” Eagle nests just as 
readily on trees as on rocks, but the former must be high 
and situated in a secure retreat seldom visited by man. In 
