100 FIFTEEN DAYS ON THE DANUBE. 



After this unsuccessful attempt we retraced our steps to the 

 huts of the herdsmen. A few yards in front of them was a 

 nest of one of the smaller hawks, hut all our attempts to 

 drive the bird out of it failed ; the forester therefore advised 

 me to wait a little while at it, as he had also never been able 

 to identify its owner. 



I crouched down in the dense dripping wet bushes, for, 

 damp and unpleasant though my position was, I had still an 

 hour to spare, and intended to devote a quarter of it to this 

 nest. "While so employed I observed a pair of Black Kites 

 circling close above me, and evidently much annoyed at my 

 presence, as they had begun building their nest a few 

 paces off. 



It had gradually left off raining, and though short but 

 heavy showers occasionally passed over us, the clouds had 

 broken up. There were some patches of blue sky, and the sun 

 itself appeared for a minute now and again. 



After waiting about half an hour the affair grew too tedious, 

 and I felt convinced that the little hawk was quietly sitting 

 in its nest; and as all these raptorial birds of Southern Hun- 

 gary, being hardly ever disturbed, are unusually tame, I had 

 good grounds for coming to this conclusion. 



I therefore quickly fired my first barrel into the middle of 

 the nest, knocking the flimsy structure all to bits, and a bird 

 flew out hard hit, but had still strength enough to fly a good 

 way off into the thickets, so that I lost sight of it ; and as all 

 search in that impenetrable undergrowth would have been 

 useless, I returned to the forester, and we continued our 

 homeward route. 



From my men I heard that not only had their efforts to 

 find the Sea-Eagle been unrewarded, but that while the 

 climber was taking the nest the angry bird had come up low 

 over the ground, and swooped several times close above the 

 head of our Apatin German. My jager assured me that I 



