212 fIFTEEN DAYS ON THE DANUBE. 



soaring in great circles, Hawks and Kites were wheeling 

 about lower down, while Doves were cooing among the trees 

 and bushes ; and Orioles, Thrushes, Shrikes, Starlings, and 

 many other birds were whistling and singing in full concert. 

 The lower forms of life were also well represented ; for the 

 smooth clammy bodies of snakes and lizards, some of them of 

 very considerable size, were gleaming among the grass, 

 and a great variety of butterflies and insects were fluttering 

 about. 



I brought down a Turtle-Dove which came very near our 

 resting-place ; and after this incident we ended our siesta, 

 and went for another ramble through the woods. Leopold 

 returned to the Imperial Eagle's nest; Bombelles drove off to 

 a distant part of the Sacer forest, where there was a colony 

 of Kites; Homeyer intended to visit the skirts of the Kovil 

 woods, to study the smaller birds of the copses and fields ; 

 Brehm wished to explore a portion of the same forest ; and 

 I went back to my colony of raptorial birds to observe their 

 habits at the nest from some quiet place of concealment. So 

 we all separated in different directions. 



On reaching the broad ride I met the climber who had, 

 during the drive, taken the young Eagle-Owls from the nest, 

 and instead of the old Sea-Eagle which I expected, brought 

 me a young one, fully feathered but not yet fledged, the 

 ball having been planted fairly enough in the middle of its 

 back. 



I now continued my walk along the footpath until I got 

 near the Owl's nest, near which I had yesterday seen an 

 Imperial Eagle building, and concealing myself behind the 

 thick trunk of a tree sat down and watched the numerous 

 birds of prey that were flying about. Imperial and Pygmy 

 Eagles, Goshawks, and Kites kept passing by, but always out 

 of shot, and I had, moreover, concentrated my attention on a 

 dark-coloured Pygmy Eagle. This bird was flying about low 



