O^ ORNITHOLOGY. 415 



tinguish the various birds of prey very well, had been awaiting 

 my return at a clearing about half a mile away, and before I 

 related my experiences he told me that, shortly before the two 

 shots, a Cinereous Vulture and a " Stein " Eagle had followed 

 each other high aloft and then, commencing to fight, had 

 descended towards my hiding-place. 



I am perfectly sure that the Cinereous Vulture was the 

 owner of the nest, but what caused the fight I do not 

 know. It seemed, however, to be that the " Stein " Eagle 

 was certainly the stronger and more courageous bird, for it 

 had forced its way right into the dwelling of its huge 

 adversary. 



I have rarely had an opportunity of seeing the Griffon 

 Vulture ( Vultur fulvus) in the open, and have never managed 

 to kill it. On several occasions, however, I observed it in 

 various parts of Slavonia, but always when it was soaring at a 

 very great height. The districts which I visited were gene- 

 rally wooded and had but few rocks, and rocks are what this 

 vulture must have before it feels at home. 



Many naturalists even maintain that the Griffon Vulture 

 only builds on rocks ; but this is incorrect, for where they are 

 altogether wanting it puts up with big trees. It is, however, 

 quite true that in such wooded districts it is of very rare 

 occurrence. In the above-mentioned forests round Cerevic 

 we found only one nest of this bird; it was placed on a 

 large oak, and the female was killed by Eugen v. Homeyer as 

 she was flying up to it. 



That the Griffon Vulture is now carrying out a definite 

 migratory movement in far greater numbers than the 

 Cinereous Vulture is an undoubted fact. Large flocks of 

 this species have already been often observed in Bohemia, 

 near Pardubitz for example in the year 1877 ; and when the 

 natural-history collections in the schools of small provincial 



