60 FIFTEEN DAYS ON THE DANUBE. 
channel, and even drooped over its crumbling bank, which 
was here several yards high. 
The nest appeared to have been just built, the many green 
branches at its edge showing that it was not long since the 
eagle had put the finishing touches to its abode. We ap- 
proached it cautiously until we were under the tree, where I 
became anxious about the outcome of the affair, for on the 
side next the wood there was not the smallest opening from 
which I could get a good shot, while if the bird were to fly out 
across the water, the bushy branches of the tree on which the 
nest was placed would prevent my having any better chance 
of killing it. 
Hodek at once feared that here the eagle would be in its 
nest, so I posted myself in the best place I could find, ready to 
shoot ; but though he repeatedly tapped the trunk of the tree, 
all was quiet. His practised eye had nevertheless recognized 
the probability that, in spite of all this evidence to the con- 
trary, the mighty owner of the nest might still be in it, yet it 
was not until he had clapped his hands for some time and had 
thrown up bits of stick that the eagle suddenly rose. 
The sharp cracking of the branches, the spreading of its 
wings, and its flight towards the water, all took place in an 
instant, and quickly as I put up my gun, the best moment was 
already lost, and only a few twigs and leaves fell to the dis- 
charge of both my barrels. 
Terrified and scared by the unseen danger (for we were 
well concealed), the huge bird flew high and low over the 
trees and bushes of the opposite bank, and at its cries of alarm 
the male appeared, soon followed by the remaining eagle 
from the previous nest ; and all three birds now cautiously 
cruised round us in wide circles. We had quickly cowered 
down behind a great tree, and had covered ourselves with 
some branches, for, annoyed as I was at this my first failure in 
eagle-shooting, there was still a ray of hope that as the eagle 
