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flight would lead one to expect, and strikes for a breakfast, 
dashing its huge feet and long legs into the water right up to 
its body. Very often (far more often than he succeeds) the 
Ringtail is baulked by the Roohoo, (Cyprinus Rohita and Mrigala) 
his favourite fishy food, and has to try again and again before he 
breaks his fast. If anywhere he spy a wounded Goose, or other 
water bird, he is down on him or after him in a moment. ‘The 
bird, even if only slightly wounded, and flying more or less well 
when the Eagle takes up the chase, drops at once into the water. 
Down swoops the Hagle, its long legs extended to the utmost, and 
just as his claws are within a yard of the victim’s head, down dives 
the Goose, only to rise when its pursuer has swept past; round 
comes the Ringtail again, down dives the Goose ; again and 
again these manceuvres are repeated, and at last either the Hagle 
gives up the chase, or the Goose, (and this, I think, is most 
generally the case,) diving a little too slowly, gets caught by 
the long legs (which are each time dashed their whole length 
into the water) before it has got deep enough down, and the 
Eagle then flies slowly to the shore, bearing its prey in its 
talons. A grey Goose will weigh on the average 7ibs., (much 
heavier are recorded,) but I have repeatedly seen good sized 
grey Geese carried off in the claws of one of these Eagles, the 
bird flying slowly and low over the surface of the water, but 
still quite steadily. Once, many years ago, one of these birds 
procured me a fine fish for breakfast. Standing on the high 
clay cliff on the Meerut side of the river, at Baghput on the 
Jumna, a little above the ghat, I saw one of these Eagles cap- 
ture a fish, so large, that the bird only with great difficulty 
succeeded in reaching a low sand bank, in the river, with its 
prey. As it flew to this bank, it flew so low, and with such 
difficulty, that the writhing fish in its claws, struck the water 
every few yards, and twice seemed likely to pull its persecutor 
under water. At last, however, the sand, some 250 yards away 
from where I stood, was reached. Directly the shore was 
gained, I fired a heavy rifle at the Eagle, the bullet passing 
just above it. For a minute it struggled to rise again with the 
fish, but a second bullet closer still, compelled it to rise without 
the fish ; and though it circled round above, uttering its shrill 
scream, to be joined in a few minutes by its mate, they neither 
of them ventured down, and a boatman crossed and brought 
the spoil over to me. This was a Roohoo (C. Rohita) and 
weighed 13ibs. 20z., and was perfectly uninjured except a gash 
at the back of the head, four deep claw wounds on the back of 
the neck, and four more about half way down the back. Ihave 
often tried this plan since, but never with success, the cap- 
