ON ORNITHOLOGY. 413 



head of the bird with a bullet that it leisurely rose and flew off. 

 The slow, heavy way in which it did so is shown by the fact 

 that I had plenty of time to change the rifle for a gun that 

 was lying on the ground; the two charges of shot, however, 

 took no effect, being stopped by the thick foliage. I was 

 still standing in the open near- the tree and looking about for 

 a good hiding-place, when the great bird came rushing up, 

 and so quickly that it at once vanished into its dwelling. 

 Again I drove it out with an unsuccessful rifle-shot, yet 

 within five minutes at the most the vulture appeared again 

 above the trees, took a few sweeps round, and once more 

 alighted on the edge of the nest ; but before it had settled 

 itself on the eggs it noticed me, and flew off ere I could get 

 a shot. A quarter of an hour now elapsed, both birds circling 

 aloft with hoarse croakings. Suddenly the female, which was 

 recognizable by its size, left its spouse and flew straight to 

 the nest ; but before it could get there I killed it with my 

 shot-gun. 



I will add one more observation which I had several oppor- 

 tunities of making, and which seems to me rather striking : 

 it is that I found a singular enmity existing between the 

 Cinereous Yulture and the " Stein " Eagle, which even gave 

 rise to fierce fights, especially at the nest of the former. 

 " Stein " Eagles came flying past four of the Cinereous Vul- 

 tures' nests which I visited, circled above them, and swooped 

 after the parent birds, when they hurried up with cries of 

 alarm. Directly these bold eagles showed themselves, one of 

 the vultures returned to the nest and tried to cover its brood 

 with its own body, while in their aerial encounters it was 

 always the great vulture which fled from its valiant but much 

 smaller relative. 



This behaviour of the vulture at the approach of an eagle 

 induced me to think that the latter might be trying to take 

 the eggs of the former. I cannot, however, say anything 



