AN ORNITHOLOGIST ON THE DANUBE. 563 



towards or away from the neighbouring river Theiss, apparently 

 still in search of suitable nesting-places; purple herons, common 

 herons, and squacco herons strode about fishing in all accessible 

 parts of the gi-eat expanse of water; marsh-harriers flew along 

 their accustomed routes carrying long reed-stalks to their nests; 

 ducks, mating a second time because the flood had robbed them of 

 their eggs, rose noisily from the water on the approach of our small 

 flat boat, while grebes and dabchicks dived for safety — in short, 

 every part of the vast expanse was peopled. A forester well 

 acquainted with all the paths through the submerged wood, awaited 

 us in a house which rose above the flood like an island, and acted 

 as our guide through a forest-wilderness which far surpassed all 

 that we had hitherto seen, for the water had added new obstacles 

 to those always present. Brushing past many branches which 

 must usually be high above the ground, often stooping beneath 

 boughs which blocked our way, we attempted to find a route 

 between half or wholly fallen trees, logs, and drift-wood, and to 

 penetrate to the heart of the forest. Brooding mallards, whose 

 nests in the tops of the willows had been spared by the fiood, did 

 not rise on our approach, even though we glided by within a yard 

 of them. Eared grebes, which were out on the open water, when 

 they saw us, swam sideways into the green thicket of tree-crowns, 

 chiefly willows, which rose just above the surface; water-wagtails 

 ran from one piece of drift-wood to another; spotted woodpeckers 

 and nut-hatches clung to the tree-trunks close to the water, and 

 searched for food as usual. One picture of bird-life crowded 

 upon another; but all seemed unfamiliar, because altered by the 

 prevailing conditions. To reach a sea-eagle's eyrie we were 

 obliged to wade a long distance; to visit a raven's nest we had to 

 make a wide detour. Hunting in the approved fashion was 

 impossible under such circumstances, but our expedition rewarded 

 us richly. To me personally it afforded the pleasure of seeing one 

 of the best of the feathered architects of Europe, the penduline 

 titmouse, at work on its nest, and of observing for the first time 

 its life and habits.^* 



The following day our whole company assembled in one of the 



