142 FIFTEEN DAYS ON THE DANUBE. 



Eagle evoked the surprise and delight of my friend Homeyer. 

 To my great astonishment Brehm had not yet arrived, the 

 rocks which he had baited with his kid seeming to have had 

 uncommon attractions for him. Bombelles had been lucky 

 enough to bring home a Sea-Eagle, singularly small but very 

 interesting in colour. I had never before seen a bird of this 

 species in similar plumage, for it was in the intermediate 

 stage between the brown-grey immature dress and the pale 

 yellow of the adult, .and one might even have called it 

 mottled. The beak was still black, the feet light flaxen- 

 yellow, the back had a pronounced brownish colour, and the 

 breast was already light yellow. My brother-in-law had 

 likewise brought back another very interesting bird, and by 

 so doing had added a new species of eagle to our collection ; 

 for to our universal admiration a very large female Imperial 

 Eagle was lying on the deck with a bullet-hole through the 

 centre of its breast. Leopold had also killed it at a nest in the 

 Fruska-Gora. While at a Cinereous Vulture's nest his experi- 

 ences had been similar to mine of to-day, for the great bird 

 would not leave its dwelling, and though he had often seen 

 its head protruding, he had thought it unsportsmanlike to 

 attempt so uncertain a shot at so small a mark, and, after 

 fruitless efforts, had left the place. He had a further bit of 

 bad luck at a Short-toed Eagle's nest to which he had been 

 taken, and where he had unfortunately wounded the bird and 

 had failed to find it. This was the second and last inhabited 

 nest of the Short-toed Eagle which we came across during 

 the whole trip. 



Homeyer had remained faithful to his scientific studies, for 

 he had devoted his whole attention to the small birds, and had 

 come back with a beautifully coloured Oriole, a Turtle-Dove, 

 and a variety of other smaller birds. We could \vait no 

 longer for Brehm, for time was pressing, and it was already 

 late in the afternoon; so we had a hasty dinner, and then my 



