SECOND DAY. 19 



Thanks to this wounded Cormorant I had pushed a good way 

 into this low leafy wood, when I was attracted by a very 

 amorous Cuckoo which was fluttering from tree to tree, and 

 continually retreating further into the depth of the wood. The 

 sprightly bird was so comical that I could not help watching 

 it for some time, for it sounded its monotonous call in all sorts 

 of tones, and at the same time put itself into the most extra- 

 ordinary positions. I could easily have killed it had not my 

 attention been distracted by a hawk, which I at first took to 

 be a Hobby ; but when I at last got a clear view of it as it 

 sat on a dead branch, I saw that it was a Kestrel, and, though 

 my shot brought it down, I was again unfortunate in not 

 being able to find it among the high grass. I now suddenly 

 found myself in a more open place where the low wood ended, 

 and I saw before me a patch of high trees, most of them elms ; 

 and as the light was shining through the bushes and the 

 foliage of their lower branches, it seemed as if I had reached 

 the southern end of the island. 



On the higher trees I found some herons' nests, but their 

 inmates were flying about, screaming loudly, for a bold Spotted 

 Eagle had swooped majestically through the wood, at just 

 the height of the nests, and terribly alarmed the anxious 

 parents. Never having come across a Spotted Eagle before, 

 I was much interested at being within the range of its distri- 

 bution, for I had not expected to meet with it before getting 

 a good way further south. 



No one who knows the " Stein " Eagle well, and keeps it 

 in his mind's eye as the type of the true eagles, will ever 

 confound the Spotted Eagle, or other members of its genus, 

 with any other class of raptorial birds. 



When the eagle flew past me without moving its wings, 

 and with a gliding flight, apparently slow yet swift as an 

 arrow, I was really as much overcome with delight as if I 

 had met with an old friend again after a long absence, for 



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