ELEVENTH DAY. 187 



However, to our great astonishment, one of the latter birds 

 dashed out at the first noise ; and though we both fired a 

 couple of shots at this wide-awake hawk it did not fall, 

 but disappeared among the bushes hard hit, and, not being 

 found by the keepers for some days, it arrived at Vienna in a 

 useless state the only result attained being the filling-up of 

 the gap in our shooting-list which the Common Kite had 

 threatened to create. 



I now hurried off to another Spotted Eagle's nest, a few 

 hundred yards further on. The dwelling of this handsome 

 bird was placed in the middle of a very thick and leafy tree, 

 surrounded by dense almost impenetrable underwood, and I 

 had difficulty in finding a spot sufficiently open to shoot 

 from. The eagle did not fly off until the tree had been 

 repeatedly struck ; and though both my shots hit it, they 

 were unfortunately not fatal. It then settled on a tree not 

 far off, but on my coming up fluttered on again somewhat 

 further ; and in this way I several times caught sight of it, 

 but never got sufficiently near to give it a finishing shot, nor 

 was it ever subsequently found. As time was now pressing, 

 we hastened along to the edge of the wood, scrambling 

 through the thick bushes as best we could, and putting up 

 on the way a big roebuck, which instantly vanished into 

 the depths of the cover. 



We soon reached the border of the wood, where, to our 

 left, stretched billowy corn-fields, with their wind-swept ears 

 swishing like the waves of the sea. Heavy clouds were 

 coming up over the summits of the Slavonian mountains, and 

 the distant rumbling of the thunder mingled harmoniously 

 with the shrill cries of the birds. In a few minutes we 

 got to the carriages, and as the time for our departure was 

 approaching we abandoned some kites' nests in the opposite 

 wood, and drove off along a beautiful road, which, beginning 

 by passing through woods, meadows, and cornfields, and 



