44 FIFTEEN DAYS ON THE DANUBE. 



nest, and therefore quite out of shot-range, we discovered at 

 the foot of a tree a small dry spot just large enough to serve 

 as a hiding-place for two people if they crouched close to- 

 gether. Here Hodek and I sat down covered with leafy 

 branches, while Ferencz hurried away with the " csikeln" to 

 conceal himself a good way off. Our island was close to the 

 edge of the wood, so that we had a clear outlook over the 

 open water on one side, while a few hundred paces behind it 

 stood a group of trees, most of them dead. 



The gun was now placed beside me ready for use, and a 

 cartridge inserted in the rifle, which would here have to play 

 the chief part ; and then there began a very interesting time for 

 the observer, but a very trying one for the enthusiastic sports- 

 man, for through the twigs we frequently saw the eagles, 

 which had become very suspicious, and constantly heard their 

 shrill cries of anxiety. 



Both birds flew majestically over our heads, now sailing 

 slowly along and now darting from one end of the wood to the 

 other. Often they sank so low that I could plainly see their 

 yellow feet shining in the sun, and the way in which their 

 great powerfully-beaked heads were bent downwards, while 

 sometimes they mounted to such a height that they looked like 

 mere black dots in the sky ; but they never ceased sounding 

 their ominous cries, and though the pangs of hunger kept the 

 young eagles calling to their parents, the old birds never 

 came near the nest until another hour had elapsed. 



At last they ceased to show their mistrust by shrill notes 

 of alarm, and dropping into another part of the woods vanished 

 from our sight. They had quieted down and gone off after 

 plunder, their usual business, and our hopes, which had already 

 fallen very low, began to rise again a little. A quarter of an 

 hour of perfect quiet had elapsed, when I suddenly heard the 

 piercing screams of the eagles, now here and now there, but 

 already pretty close to me, while I sometimes saw them pass 



