ON ORNITHOLOGY. 435 



watching under a Sea-Eagle's nest when a pair appeared, one 

 of which was in the light, the other in the dark plumage. 



In the large Keskend wood, several times alluded to, we 

 found a pair of these birds still employed in building their 

 nest, and single individuals were also flying about in that 

 locality. In the Fruska-Gora, as I have already said, I saw 

 Pygmy Eagles several times every day, sometimes solitary, 

 sometimes paired." The light-coloured birds were the more 

 common, the dark rarer, but still of regular occurrence. 



I have never seen so many of these graceful little eagles 

 crowded into such a comparatively small area as in the Kovil 

 and Sacer forests, in the district near the junction of the 

 Theiss. There I had opportunities of seeing them at all times 

 of the day, and also found some of their nests. In the beginning 

 of May, several of the females were already sitting closely on 

 their eggs, others were busy with the building of their nests, 

 and here and there pairs were flying about, seeking suitable 

 sites for their habitations. On the 3rd of May I found a dark- 

 coloured female sitting so hard that I with difficulty forced 

 her to leave her abode. 



At the nest, as well as on all other occasions, the Pygmy 

 Eagle exhibits great confidence towards man and is not diffi- 

 cult to kill. Its behaviour in the woods is awkward, I might 

 say almost Owl-like. It sits quietly on the lower branches of 

 an old beech or oak for a long time, and not until one comes 

 close up to it does it flutter away low down between the stems 

 of the trees with a noiseless irregular flight. Quite different, 

 however, is its conduct when it is out hunting or amusing 

 the sitting female with an exhibition of its powers of flight: 

 then the Pygmy Eagle shows that it is a true member of 

 the group of noble eagles, for without any apparent move- 

 ment or beating of its wings it soars high over the woods and 

 hills, and now and then folds its pinions and drops like an 

 arrow to the earth. 



