ON ORNITHOLOGY. 443 



several young wild pigs and little Mouflon lambs, and dis- 

 appeared after staying about a week. During the day it 

 generally sat on the banks of the two ponds that lie close 

 together, or on a great elm that stands in the middle of a 

 meadow, but always kept so cautiously out of the way of any 

 one who tried to approach it with a gun, that nobody ever 

 succeeded in getting a shot at it. The crows and jackdaws 

 worried it incessantly, and it often took wide flights round 

 the meadows only to shake off its pursuers. 



What I have already said of the " Stein " Eagle, namely 

 that it may be found everywhere, even in districts where one 

 least expects it, naturally applies, in a far greater degree, to 

 the Sea-Eagle ; and it is, in my opinion, not only the com- 

 monest eagle, but even one of the most widely distributed 

 and most abundant of all the European raptorial species. It 

 is really quite a common ordinary bird, astonishing only from 

 its size to those who have seen but few eagles. In winter, as 

 I have already said, it visits all parts of the country, even the 

 most civilized and densely populated, nor does it become 

 alarmed at being constantly pursued, for its quiet cunning 

 always enables it to escape at the right moment. 



During the winter it is met with throughout Germany, 

 and the same may be said of our thickly peopled provinces. 

 In Bohemia, for example, where the " Stein " Eagle is ac- 

 counted a great rarity, the Sea-Eagle yearly appears in con- 

 siderable numbers. On the ponds of the southern parts of 

 that country, notably in the district of Wittingau, several are 

 killed every season ; and in all the Bohemian country houses 

 one finds among the sporting trophies various Sea-Eagles 

 which are habitually pointed out with pride as " Stein " 

 Eagles. In Bavaria, also, especially on the southern lakes, 

 it is very common during the cold weather, and in the auen 

 of the Isar it occurs almost throughout the winter. It is, 

 as already said, easy to find everywhere, but very hard to 



