THE SPRINGHARE OR SPRINGHAAS 



had not been so great, for down came the Eagle with 

 contracted wings, and when within a couple of yards 

 of the ground the pinions shot out and checked its 

 fall. Next instant we saw the Mungoose writhing 

 frantically in the bird's powerful talons. With a 

 discordant scream of triumph the Eagle rose about 

 thirty feet, and presently we saw the body of the 

 plucky little animal drop to the ground with a thud. 

 The Eagle had crushed the life out of it, and dis- 

 daining such unpalatable fare as the unsavoury and 

 tough muscular flesh of the Mungoose, had dropped 

 its victim. Within a couple of seconds of the fall 

 of its body, the Eagle alighted by the side of the dead 

 Springhare and, advancing, struck the talons of one 

 foot into it, and with an air of proprietorship, raised 

 its proud head and surveyed the heavens and the 

 earth. Seeing no enemy, it tore large pieces of the 

 flesh from the body and hastily swallowed them. 

 After devouring the flesh of one of the thighs, it 

 seized the remainder and, rising into the air, flew 

 heavily away to the ledge of rock on the side of the 

 krantz from whence it came. 



The eyes of the Springhare, like those of many 

 other nocturnal animals, are unusually large. This 

 enlarged eye enables the animal to gather up the 

 feeble rays of night light, and see quite clearly in 

 what to us would be a condition of darkness. It is 

 not only the size of the eye which enables these 

 nocturnal animals to see so well at night. It is 

 because the intricate network of nerves on the retina 



