148 FIFTEEN DAYS ON THE DANUBE. 



furious, and the bird was so close, that the keeper, although a 

 perfectly courageous man, was obliged to spring behind the 

 trunk of an adjacent beech tree to guard himself against a 

 fresh assault. I had often heard of such madly daring and 

 dangerous attacks having been made by the parent eagles 

 close to their nests ; but quite out in the open wood, and only 

 near the body of a dead companion, it was quite a new 

 phenomenon both to Brehm and myself, and a very in- 

 teresting one. 



Brehm further told us that after this episode he had waited 

 a good many hours in his hiding-place, until at last there 

 came a " Stein " Eagle, a big powerful bird, at which he was 

 induced to fire as it sat on a rock rather too far away, and 

 though it flew off hard hit, all attempts to find it were 

 ineffectual. This was a great pity, not only for Brehm, but 

 for all of us, for if he had killed the bird we should have 

 brought home with us all the species of Austrian eagles ; as 

 it was, there remained a palpable blank in our collection, for 

 we did not find a nest of this shy species anywhere. It would, 

 moreover, have been a matter of great interest for the two 

 Savants to have secured just at this moment a freshly-killed 

 " Stein " Eagle, in order ^o have taken its measurements, 

 and to have made use of it for the monograph on the 

 " Stein " and Golden Eagles which they were now writing. 



This was the cause of our finding Brehm in such a de- 

 jected frame of mind, a state of depression greatly aggravated 

 by a bad headache from which he was suffering, and which 

 compelled him to pass the entire day quietly in his cabin, all 

 he had been able to do having been to take a little morning 

 stroll through the vineyards, where he had bagged a beautiful 

 Rock-Thrush, another new addition to our collection. 



As soon as the steamer had got under weigh we had 

 luncheon served, for Count Chotek wished us to make a short 

 voyage up-stream, first to pay a visit to the nests along the 



