156



Mr. E. C. Stuart Baker,



uttering hideous noises as he did so, most unsettling to the birds.

It was with a sigh of content, I think, that they eventually saw him

led away by some Nagas to form the piece de resistance at one of

their wedding feasts. With the other bears they were on very

friendly terms and had regular games ; the bears, like all other

young bears, used to have wrestling matches, two of them wrestling

whilst the third did referee and also sometimes at critical moments

rushed into the arena and bowled over both the contestants. The

eagles took an intense interest in these matches, and when as often

happened, the wrestlers suddenly stopped the match and rushed

headlong upon the birds, they merely hopped up into the air over

their heads and waited for the next round. My tame deer never

really liked the eagles though they tolerated their presence, but the

dogs, cats, and monkeys were all on good terms with them and their

special favourites amongst these were a beautiful greyhound and

a large civet cat.


It was possibly because they had so many four-footed friends

that these eagles spent so much time on the ground, but it certainly

was a very curious sight to see these two birds following me round

the compound on foot with the rest of my pets, only taking to wing

when they had fallen too far behind and had to catch us up again.

Sometimes when the stag beetles had been playing such havoc with

my orange trees that it was necessary to take determined action

against them the two eagles would accompany me round as I went

from tree to tree cutting out the fat larvae from the boles and larger

branches. Whilst the extraction was going on they would stand one

on either side of me watching the proceedings with the most intense

interest, getting frightfully excited when the tempting morsel came at

last into sight. Their bushy crests were then erected to the full and

they danced from one foot to another uttering harsh cries until one

bird was given the grub when both subsided again with quiet

expectation until the next lucious mouthful appeared.


They never uttered their wild shrill calls except when soaring

in the air, high up and often out of sight or, very rarely, when

perched on the summit of a huge Bombax Tree which grew beside

my garden. Sometimes very early in the morning when they were

fastened up in the fowl-house they began their cry but it was always



