A Battle of Birds.

Auckland Star, Volume XIX, Issue 218, 15 September 1888, Page 3 (Supplement)

A Battle of Birds.

A TRtJi<Y Homeric battle of birds is re* pprt^d 'to the ''Ffankftlirfeet Bei^pg" by an eye witness, in a letter from Sophia. Early on Thursday morning (he cays) w« saw ah unusually larg6 numbej' pf eajele?j probably abouj) two nund_r|4i taking, their flight towards the mountains of the Jttntra. A. crowd of persons watched th^spebtJkcle, iapd the cirdwd grt^y increased hours after, when a number of storks, not fewer than 300; flew straight towards the regimenfc of eagles, evi^eptly bent pii war.' In an instant, eagles and storks were mingled in deadly affray. It was a fearful combat. Every np>v: and then a wounded or dead bird, stork or eagle, fell to the grpnnd. The battle lasted for nearly an, tsqur, when the two armies, apparently weary of fight, fiew off in opposite <$Irectl<»n9. Ujpbni a, rough reckoning it was estimated that at least a third of the combatants fell in the severe struggle, The prefect sent sorrie men pp into the inountaiqs to cpuht Che dead eagles and storks. The people are quite eager to know which of the two armies was victorious. Prbbable, as in^ manjf yf'axi Of unfeathered bipeds, the advantage lay on neither side. -