This passion he exhibited, becoming quite furious when shewn -a stuffed 
bird of any size* a huge pelloan, whloh was his pet aversion, being usually 
subjected to the fiercest when shewn to him through the bars of his aviary; 
this was followed by a continual uttering of his note of anger until hie 
passion died away* At about the age of twelve months he commenced uttering 
his adult note; but now and then, more particularly in the breeding season, 
during the first three years I heard the querulous cry peculiar to the young 
s tape. 
When shewn any object which excited his interest or curiosity, such as a 
tempting morsel of food, outside the bars of his aviary, he had a singular 
habit of twisting his head round till it was completely turned upside down, 
all the time keeping his eyes fixed on the subject of his examination* At 
other times when under the influence of excitement from any cause, he would 
throw his head back until it touched his back, and sway his head to and fro 
with a spasmodic out-darting of his wings, as if he were going to launch 
himself through the roof of his aviary. He made two voyages round the is¬ 
land with me, and one trip across country in a bullock bandy, and during his 
life in Ceylon experienced several adventures, one of which proved well nigh 
fatal. 
While at Trincomalie he narrowly escaped being killed by a wild cat, from 
whose clutches he must have escaped purely by dint of fierce struggles, in¬ 
flicting, no doubt, severe wounds on the animal with his talons* One mor¬ 
ning during my absence in the jungle, he was found to be missing, and on ex¬ 
amining the aviary a large hole was discovered in the roof, through which he 
had evidently been dragged; search was made high and low throughout the pre¬ 
mises, but not a sign of the eagle was anywhere to be seen. About midday, 
when the house coolie went to draw water, the unfortunate bird was perceived 
floating on the surface, of the water in the well, which was about thirty 
feet below the trap. On rescuing him from his perilous position he was 
found to be uninjured, with the exception of a wound on the point of tae 
wing, evidently made by the teeth of a cat, which must have dragged him a- 
cross the compound some forty yards, with the view of taking him through an 
opening at the back of the wall, when the beast found the eagle’s clutches 
too strong for him, and dropped him close to the trap, down which he had 
fallen in the darkness* Neither his mauling by the eat, nor his five or 
six hours cold bath In the darkness of the well, had done much towards inti¬ 
midating him, for the plucky little fellow fought vigorously whi$e being se¬ 
cured, and it was only by dint of enveloping him in the coolie’s cloth that 
