418 MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 



most constant pursuit. I have ranged through our Alps in 

 the most varied directions, and have spent entire days high 

 up in the mountains, and I have, at the outside, not met with 

 more than four " Stein " Eagles ; but, on the other hand, I 

 have both seen and carefully observed many birds of this 

 species in divers flat districts of the kingdom, and have even 

 shot some of them. Excepting, however, the high moun- 

 tains, I know of no other locality within our realms where 

 they would breed. 



I imagine that most of their nests are situated in the loftier 

 parts of the Carpathians, the Alps of Transylvania, and in the 

 forests of Eastern Prussia, Russian Poland, and other Russian 

 provinces. There must be places where this species can breed 

 quite undisturbed, for the number of young ones seen in 

 spring and summer, as well as the pairs and the solitary 

 adults encountered in winter, is very considerable. One 

 need, however, have sharp eyes, skill, and perseverance to 

 find out whether these eagles are passing through a given 

 district. 



Like all other large birds of prey, the " Stein " Eagle only 

 begins to breed in its third or fourth year, and is from the 

 moment of its leaving the nest up to that time occupied 

 in long journeys and in ranging through the most distant 

 localities. 



Its powers of flight are very great, and its wanderings 

 are limited by no other laws than those of hunger and 

 its fear of man, which increases with age. This being 

 the case, whither does not this swift powerful bird travel ! 

 There is, for example, not a single tract in the whole kingdom 

 unfrequented by the " Stein " Eagle. In one locality it is 

 seen more commonly, in another more rarely, but everywhere 

 a thorough search can and will disclose its presence, at all 

 events occasionally during the year. There is a current idea, 

 especially among sportsmen, that this eagle only visits the 



