THROUGH WILD EUROPE 



49 



size of an Oriole, and looked around me to try to 

 discover from whence it proceeded. 



To my great surprise I found that it was the 

 Booted Eagle, the owner of the nest. (The Booted 

 Eagle is now, of course, universally recognized as 

 identical with the Pygmy Eagle.) The bird was 

 sitting on the ground quite close to me, in fact 

 not more than six or seven yards away. But the 

 moment I saw it it flew up, and I was afraid that 

 it had seen me and taken the alarm. However, 

 within half an hour it glided past me, low down, 

 and swept upwards in a graceful curve to the nest, 

 perching in the nest itself so that I could only see 

 its head. It did not stay there more than a moment 

 or two, however, but flew off to return again pre- 

 sently. This time it perched on the thick branch 

 near the nest, where I had a good view of it, and 

 on this same branch I photographed it twice before 

 I left. The photograph shows well the peculiar 

 feathering, right down to the toes, which gives it 

 its name of ' Booted ' Eagle, and caused it to be 

 called the ' Eagle with the breeches ' by Prince 

 Rudolf's Slavonian climber. 



There was one egg in the nest, which I took as 

 we were going away, leaving a hen's egg in its 

 place, for I expected she still had another egg to lay. 

 However, on our return this hen's egg had gone, 

 probably some hungry charcoal-burner or herdsman 



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