1 10 BIRD-HUNTING 



view. Some of the smaller ones we cut down, 

 utilizing their branches in making a cover over the 

 camera, but all the disturbance thus made rendered 

 the return of the parent Eagles very improbable. 

 Though we waited seven hours, terribly tormented 

 by mosquitoes the whole time, they never came to 

 the nest, but we could see them soaring overhead, 

 and flying in great circles over the forest. In these 

 evolutions they were constantly pursued by a pair 

 of Ravens, which bullied them most persistently, 

 making all the time a great outcry. They had 

 themselves in all probability a nest of young some- 

 where in the neighbourhood, though we did not 

 succeed in finding it. It was an extraordinary sight 

 to see the great Eagle flying away from the Ravens, 

 and by dodging and turning doing its best to evade 

 pursuit, without attempting once to retaliate or to 

 defend itself. 



We slept that night in the house of the proprietor 

 of the forest, who was away from home ; but as he 



was a friend of B 's, who knew the house and 



the servants in charge well, that made no difference, 

 except that we had to sleep in our clothes on some 

 couches, and to take our chance about food. How- 

 ever, Marco got some eggs for us, and with milk 

 and maize bread we did pretty well. 



The house, being in such a lonely place, was 

 provided with a watch-tower at one corner. This 



