TENTH DAY. 169 



vulture, with its gaping beak, appeared, instantly vanished 

 again, and was followed by the yellowish feathered head of a 

 noble " Stein " Eagle, with its powerful beak open and ready 

 for fighting. 



Extraordinary and unexpected as this was, I now knew 

 what it all meant, especially from its occurring at this nest ; 

 for, as our collective observations showed, the " Stein " Eagle 

 pursues the Cinereous Vulture wherever it finds it, the hatred 

 of these birds towards each other being quite remarkable ; but 

 it is chiefly near the nest that the eagle endeavours to annoy 

 its larger, but less powerfully armed opponent in every con- 

 ceivable way. These birds had evidently had an aerial quarrel 

 about something, and had come down fighting and entangled 

 together, while the battle was now going on inside the nest of 

 the vulture. 



I wanted to kill the more active eagle during the fight, 

 but it was only for an instant that I saw either the head of 

 the vulture or that of the eagle, so, as it would have been far 

 too great a risk to have shot, I waited. 



Presently the nest swayed, the branches cracked, and amid 

 a cloud of dust and small twigs a gigantic Cinereous Vulture 

 fell out of the nest straight towards me, with loosely hanging 

 wings. It did not fly away at once, but tumbled like a 

 wounded bird down the stem of the tree on to one of the 

 thickest branches, and there tried to spread its wings and 

 seek safety in flight. I took advantage of this moment, and 

 gave it a full dose of BB in its breast, which was facing me, 

 within a few paces. This knocked it down again, and in an 

 instant it lay dead at my feet. 



The echo of the shot was still booming through the lonely 

 woodland valleys when another loud disturbance took place 

 in the nest, and a powerful " Stein " Eagle dashed away from 

 the further side of the oak, followed by a great Cinereous 

 Vulture. Perfectly staggered by this extraordinary sight 



