KOSS-SHZRE. 279 



sorts are yet common, and in relation to one of these 

 birds there is a curious, but by no means incredible, 

 story told by the inhabitants of this district, to the 

 effect that an eagle having swooped down on the 

 back of a roe buck feeding outside a wood, the 

 terrified animal dashed back to the thick cover in the 

 hope of shaking off his assailant. The eagle was 

 nearly swept from the back of his quarry by coming 

 into violent contact with the first tree past which 

 the roe dashed, and then, as attacked and attacker 

 approached another tree, the eagle gripped the stem 

 with one of his claws, while keeping his hold of 

 the roe with the other. So great, however, was the 

 speed and impetus of the maddened, stampeding roe, 

 while so firm was the hold of the eagle, that the bird 

 was split up and torn clean asunder, one half of it 

 remaining firmly fixed to the tree, while the other 

 moiety continued to hold on to the roe. 



