SPORT AND TRAVEL 125 



off. The one I fired at turned short round and went 

 back, the other one continuing its course up the moun- 

 tain-side. I thought from this that I had hit him, but 

 did not find any blood at the place where i had fired 

 at him, and we could not follow the spoor very easily in 

 the stony ground. Whilst still looking for it, we saw 

 a large black vulture (Vultur cinereus) fly out from 

 amongst some fir-trees not far below us, and going 

 down to them soon discovered a large nest on the top 

 of a high tree. I now left the spoor of the boar, which 

 I had probably missed, and examined the tree which 

 held the nest, as I was more anxious to secure some 

 eggs of the black vulture than to shoot a small wild 

 boar, whose head would not be worth keeping. 



The tree was a large pine of great height, and 

 looked more difficult of ascent than it probably 

 would have done when I was a school-boy; but as 

 Dr. Carpuzza was not of a figure for tree-climbing, I 

 determined to try it, and at last, not without con- 

 siderable difficulty, succeeded in reaching the nest. 

 It was a huge structure which had probably been 

 added to from year to year for a long time past, 

 and was several feet in depth, as well as in diameter. 

 It was composed of dry sticks and branches, many 

 of them of large size, on the top of which was a 

 hollow, lined with the comparatively soft bunches of 

 green pine needles, adhering to thin branches, evi- 

 dently lately broken off. The nest contained one 

 egg, which was white in ground-colour, spotted and 



