FOURTH DAY. 59 



some great sweeps round the wood, screaming the while; and 

 we passed an anxious hour, as not for an instant did the wary 

 bird quit our neighbourhood, though it never allowed the cries 

 of its young to attract it within a fair range. 



At one time we saw it circling high above us, at another it 

 flew low over the bushes, then showed itself among the tree- 

 stems only a few yards above the ground, and sometimes 

 perched on the isolated trees along the bank or in the middle 

 of the wood, but never came close to the nest. 



I waited perhaps more than an hour without stirring in the 

 least, and attentively followed every movement of the noble 

 bird, for it was a beautiful sight to watch the intense anxiety, 

 excitement, and mistrust of this shy robber, who, without 

 having really detected our presence, was nevertheless suspi- 

 cious of some great danger. At times it vanished for a little 

 while in the upper parts of the wood, and came back regularly 

 attended by two other Sea-Eagles, who, having no idea of the 

 cause of its alarm, playfully followed it about. 



After about an hour had passed, Hodek thought that it was 

 evidently quite useless to wait for the return of this wary bird, 

 and we therefore resolved to visit another Sea-Eagle's nest in 

 the woods straight in front of us about a mile further on. 

 The way to this second nest was somewhat difficult and 

 fatiguing, for at every step our progress was impeded by dense 

 underwood, and by the broad pools, which had to be waded, 

 while in many places we had to hack out a path with our 

 hunting-knives ; however, after a somewhat long tramp, Hodek 

 imagined that we must be near the nest. Here the wood was 

 broader, and extended so far to the left that it quite shut out 

 the view towards the other cover, while to the right it was 

 still bounded by the broad arm of the river, along the opposite 

 bank of which ran an unbroken stretch of willow-thickets, 

 with a high wood of the same trees in the background. 



The tree on > which this nest was placed stood close to the 



