ON ORNITHOLOGY. 427 



raptorial birds, is not large strikingly small indeed, consider- 

 ing the size of its owner, and built in what I should call 

 a very slovenly manner. 



At all the nests of the Imperial Eagle I found whole colo- 

 nies of Tree-Sparrows, which fluttered round the abode of 

 their mighty landlord, chirping loudly. I have also observed 

 them at the nests of the Sea-Eagle, but not in such numbers. 



The Imperial Eagle is shy and knows how to get out 

 of the way in good time ; it is, however, by no means 

 difficult to kill it at the nest, for it does not exhibit the 

 great and often marvellous circumspection of the Sea-Eagle. 

 It is true that at one's first approach it leaves its abode 

 sooner and more quickly than that bird, but it soon appears 

 again and flies straight back to it ; quite oblivious of the 

 sportsman. 



This species is very common in the large woods of stunted 

 trees which extend over the perfectly level country near Titel, 

 above the junction of the Theiss with the Danube. There it 

 is, so to speak, the characteristic bird of the district, and there 

 also its principal food is the ziesel, which is so destructive to 

 the fields that it inhabits in multitudes. 



In that locality I saw an Imperial Eagle's nest at the edge 

 of a large wood, and not more than three hundred paces dis- 

 tant from a road on which there was plenty of traffic. It 

 was placed on a low slender oak, and the birds being accus- 

 tomed to the sight of people were naturally very tame, so 

 that we had only to wait a few minutes before we killed the 

 old and finely plumaged female. 



In the beginning of May I still found Imperial Eagles 

 engaged in the building of their nests. Others were sitting 

 on their eggs, and some even had young. These eaglets, 

 however, were still in down, and so small that it would 

 have been impossible to rear any of them. At one nest, 

 which was situated in a remote valley of the Fruska-Gora 



