498 ORNITHOLOGICAL SKETCHES 
Curiously enough this eagle now never breeds in the auen 
of the Danube, which offer it such splendid fishing-grounds, 
for I only know of one nest there, and that has been deserted 
for many years. 
Sea-Eagles and Kites are the most malicious tormentors of 
the poor Osprey, for they worry it incessantly during the 
whole time that it is breeding, and also rob it of its cleverly 
gained booty; indeed, I believe that the great numbers of 
Kites which nest in the auen of Lower Austria have driven 
the Ospreys to settle elsewhere. 
This applies, in a still greater degree, to the Hungarian 
auen, for in the great maze of woods between Mohacs and 
the Draueck, where all the requirements of the Osprey exist 
in great abundance, I only found two of its nests and saw 
very few of these birds flying up and down the numerous 
branching arms of the Danube. There, again, the quantities 
of Sea-EHagles, added to the goodly numbers of the Black 
Kites, are the drawbacks that prevent the Ospreys from 
taking up their quarters in those districts. I went one day 
from the auen of the Danube to the Keskend wood, a large 
but perfectly dry oak forest, some hours’ drive from the 
river, and had on the way already caught sight of some 
Ospreys fishing along the small streams that flowed to the 
Danube ; but in this forest, far away from all marshes and 
rivers, I found several of their nests, close to each other, near 
the eyrie of a Short-toed Hagle, and surrounded by the 
dwellings of the Black Storks, which were very common in 
that locality. It was beautiful to see the Osprey among the 
Storks as they flew to and fro over the oaks. 
In many of the Alpine districts I found this eagle quite 
common ; in others, however, it either did not occur at all or 
was very rare. In the Alps it shows a preference for the 
neighbourhood of mountain-lakes, and this is the reason why 
