414 MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 



definite on this point, and therefore only permit myself to 

 draw attention to it. 



At one nest I witnessed a battle which reached a pitch that 

 I should never have believed possible. I was sitting one 

 afternoon under an old oak that bore on its upper branches 

 the nest of a Cinereous Vulture. Both the vultures had made 

 a few circles round my hiding-place, and had then disappeared 

 down a wooded valley, probably in search of plunder. I must 

 have been watching patiently for a good half -hour when I 

 heard a loud rushing sound above me. The noise increased, 

 and suddenly I saw a great mass, composed of the closely 

 involved wings, heads, and feet of two birds, fall straight down 

 to the nest and at once vanish within it. At^first I did not 

 know what to make of this phenomenon, but hardly had the 

 birds reached the nest when dust and twigs fell from it, and a 

 great disturbance made me aware that a fight was going on. 



After a few moments there appeared, at short intervals, the 

 great wing of the Cinereous Vulture, its bare head, a smaller 

 wing, and presently the head and foot of a " Stein " Eagle. 

 Unfortunately all this happened so quickly that it was impos- 

 sible to get a safe shot at the portions of the birds' bodies of 

 which I caught such momentary glimpses. Suddenly there 

 was a creaking of the nest, the whole structure swayed, and a 

 Cinereous Vulture fell out over its edge down the trunk of 

 the tree on to one of the lower branches. There the heavy 

 bird caught hold and tried to extend its wings; but availing 

 myself of that moment, I sent a charge of heavy shot into the 

 middle of its breast, and it continued its fall dead. 



No sooner had the shot rung through the wood than a 

 powerful " Stein " Eagle left the nest with easy flight, but 

 my second barrel, which I now let drive, unfortunately failed 

 to bring down the bold robber. 



A forester belonging to the district, who knew how to dis- 



