"We had not entirely escaped the tall grass, however, and with the utmost fatigue and difficulty, were struggling through the reeds, when suddenly a great rushing noise terrified us all dreadfully. A very large and powerful bird sprang upward on the wing. Both boys attempted to take aim, but the bird was far away before they were ready to fire. "'Oh, dear, what a pity!' exclaimed Ernest; 'now if I had only had my light gun, and if the bird had not flown quite so fast, I should have brought him down directly!' "'Oh yes,' said I, 'no doubt you would be a capital sportsman, if only your game would always give you time to make ready comfortably.' "'But I had no notion that anything was going to fly up just at our feet like that,' cried he. "'A good shot,' I replied, 'must be prepared for surprises; neither wild birds nor wild beasts will send you notice that they are about to fly or to run.' "'What sort of bird can it have been?' inquired Jack. "'Oh, it certainly must have been an eagle,' answered little Franz, 'it was so very big!' "'Just as if every big bird must be an eagle!' replied Ernest, in a tone of derision. "'Let's see where he was sitting, at all events!' said I. "Jack sprang toward the place, and instantly a second bird, rather larger than the first, rushed upward into the air, with a most startling noise. "The boys stood staring upward, perfectly stupefied, while I laughed heartily, saying, 'Well, you are first-rate sportsmen, to be sure! You certainly will keep my larder famously well supplied!' "At this, Ernest colored up, and looked inclined to cry, while Jack put on a comical face, pulled off his cap, and with a low bow, called after the fugitive: "'Adieu for the present, sir! I live in hopes of another meeting!' "On searching the ground carefully, we discovered a rude sort of nest made untidily of dry grass. It was empty, although we perceived broken egg shells at no great distance, and concluded that the young brood had escaped among the grass, which, in fact, we could see was waving at a little distance, as the little birds ran through it. "'Now look here, Franz,' said Ernest, presently, 'just consider how this bird could by any possibility have been an eagle. Eagles never build on the ground, neither can their young leave the nest and run as soon as they are out of the egg. That is a peculiarity of the gallinaceous tribe of birds alone, to which then these must belong. The species, I think, is indicated by the white belly and dull red color of the wing coverts which I observed in these specimens, and I believe them to be bustards, especially as I noticed in the largest the fine mustache-like feathers over the beak, peculiar to the great bustard.' "'My dear boy,' I said, 'your eyes were actively employed, I must confess, if your fingers were unready with the gun. And after all, it is just as well, perhaps, that we have not thrown the bustard's family into mourning.'