430 MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 



sized trees, in the middle of a broad plain, and affords every- 

 thing that the Spotted Eagle can desire. The keepers told us 

 that it often breeds there ; but we were not lucky enough to 

 find a nest ourselves, though we often saw the birds flying 

 through the trees or circling aloft, either singly or in little 

 companies. 



In Slavonia I saw Spotted Eagles hunting about the 

 wooded valleys of the Fruska-Gora mountains on several 

 occasions, and was much surprised to find this characteristic 

 bird of the plains among those thickly wooded and somewhat 

 high mountains. The fact may be explained by the 

 proximity of the great Hungarian plains, as well as those of 

 the Save further to the south, which must, according to our 

 united observations, be regarded as the daily hunting-grounds 

 of all the birds of prey nesting in the Fruska-Gora. In 

 one of the valleys of these mountains we even found a nest 

 of the Spotted Eagle, which the keepers pointed out as being 

 the abode of a Kite. 



I found this species most abundant near the village of 

 Futak, on the left bank of the Danube. There it was really 

 the characteristic bird of the little oak woods, which were 

 surrounded by fields and heaths. We came across four 

 inhabited nests of it within a small area, and I noticed several 

 of these eagles flying about among the isolated clumps of 

 wood. The nests which I myself saw were placed on the 

 upper branches of medium-sized oaks, and were large and 

 strongly built, their form reminding us of those of the 

 Common Buzzard. The breeding females were all sitting 

 hard, and it was only after repeated tapping at the trunks 

 of the trees that they quitted their dwellings with a quick 

 gliding flight. 



I several times saw Spotted Eagles in the woods at Kovil, 

 near the mouth of the Theiss ; but favourable as the nature of 

 the district appeared to be, I did not succeed in finding a 



