SKETCHES OF SPANISH BIRD-LIFE
Spain is a land where one can enjoy seeing in their everyday life those
"rare" British birds that at home can only be seen in books or museums.
So far as it can be done in half-a-dozen brief sketches, we will
endeavour to illustrate this.
I. AN EVENING'S STROLL FROM JEREZ.
Spanish towns and villages are self-contained like the "fenced cities"
of Biblical days. The _pueblecitos_ of the sierra show up as a concrete
splash of white on the brown hillside. Once outside the gates you are in
the _campo_ = the country. Even Jerez with its 60,000 inhabitants boasts
no suburban zone. Within half an hour's walk one may witness scenes in
wild bird-life for the like of which home-staying naturalists sigh in
vain. We are at our "home-marsh," a mile or two away: it is
mid-February. Within fifteen yards a dozen stilts stalk in the shallows;
hard by is a group of godwits, some probing the ooze, the rest preening
in eccentric outstretched poses. Beyond, the drier shore is adorned by
snow-white egrets (_Ardea bubulcus_), some perched on our cattle,
relieving their tick-tormented hides.
Thus, within less than fifty yards, we have in view three of the rarest
and most exquisite of British birds. And the list can be prolonged. A
marsh-harrier in menacing flight, his broad wings brushing the
bulrushes, sweeps across the bog, startling a mallard and snipes; there
are storks and whimbrels in sight (the latter possibly slender-billed
curlew), and a pack of lesser bustard crouch within 500 yards in the
palmettos. From a marsh-drain springs a green sandpiper; and as we take
our homeward way, serenaded by bull-frogs and mole-crickets, there
resounds overhead the clarion-note of cranes cleaving their way due
north.
II. AN ISOLATED CRAG IN ANDALUCIA
Within an easy half-day's ride from X. lie the cliffs of Chipipi, rising
in crenellated tiers from the winding river at their base. It is a
lovely May morning. Doves in dozens dash away as we ride through groves
of white poplars, and the soft air is filled with their murmurous
chorus; the bush-clad banks are vocal with the song of orioles and
nightingales, cuckoos, and a score of warblers--Cetti's and orphean,
Sardinian, polyglotta, Bonelli's. The handsome rufous warbler, though
not much of a songster, is everywhere conspicuous, flirting a
boldly-barred, fan-shaped tail that catches one's eye. There are
woodchats, serins, hoopoes; azure-blue rollers squawk, and brilliant
bee-eaters poise and chatter overhead--their nest-burrows perforate the
river-bank like a sand-martins' colony. On willow-clad eyots nest lesser
ring-dotterels and otters bask; while in the shaded depths beneath the
fringing osiers lurk barbel intent to dash at belated grasshopper or
cricket.
[Illustration: SAVI'S WARBLER (_Sylcia savii_)
A spring-migrant, common but very local. Has eggs by mid-April.]
In a thick lentiscos is the nest of a great grey shrike, and while we
watch, its owner flies up carrying a lizard in her beak. Half an hour
later we see a second shrike, with falcon-like dash, capture another
lizard basking in a sunny cranny among the rocks--no mean performance
that. There are snakes here also; one we killed, a coluber, on March 31,
was 5-1/2 feet long and contained two rabbits swallowed whole and head
first--one partly digested. Another snake, quite small, struck us as
being something new; him we bottled in spirit and despatched to the
British Museum. Presently came the reply, thanking us for a "Lizard,
_Blanus cinereus_." Lizard? Well, we learnt a lesson. There are limbless
lizards, and this was one--the subterranean amphisbaena; our British
blindworm (_Anguis fragilis_) is another, and that also we did not know
before. There are curious reptiles here in Spain--the chameleon, for
example. The lobe-footed gecko, _Salamanquésa_ in Spanish, haunts sunny
rocks where insects abound. But he carries war into the enemy's camp,
invading (not singly, but in force) the wild-bees' nests. A Spanish
bee-keeper gravely assured us that the cold-blooded gecko does this
thing expressly to enjoy the sensation of being stung in twenty places
at once! Here in a shady glade lie strewn broadcast the wings of
butterflies--examine very closely the bush above, and presently an
iris-less eye, expressionless as a grey pearl, will meet your own. That
is a praying mantis (or _Santa Teresa_ in Spanish), a practical insect
but no aesthete, since he devours the ugly body and casts aside the
beauteous wings!--see his portrait at p. 87. Among butterflies we
counted here the scarce swallowtail, _Thaïs polyxena_ (hatching out on
April 3), _Vanessa polychloros_, a big fritillary with blood-red
under-surface to its fore-wings (_Argynnis maia_, Cramer),
_Euchloëbelia_ (March) and the curious insect figured alongside, we know
not what it is.[69]
[Illustration]
For more than thirty years within our knowledge (and probably for
centuries before) these cliffs have formed a home of Bonelli's eagle.
Two huge stick-built nests stand out in visible projection from crevices
in the crag, some forty yards apart. To-day (April 3) the occupied eyrie
contained a down-clad eaglet, four partridges, and half a rabbit,
besides a partridge's egg, intact, and sundry scraps of flesh, all quite
fresh. The nest was lined with green olive-twigs; swarms of
carrion-flies buzzed around, and a great tortoiseshell butterfly alit on
its edge while we were yet inside. The parent eagles soared overhead,
the female carrying a half rabbit, which, in her impatience, she
presently commenced to devour, the pair perching on a dead ilex, and
affording us this sketch and another inserted at p. 26. Her white
breast shone in the sun with a satin-like sheen.
Within sight (though fifteen miles away) is another eyrie of this
species--the alternative nests not ten feet apart, merely a projecting
buttress of rock separating the two vertical fissures in which they
rest. This site is in a rock-stack standing out from the wooded slope of
the sierra. The two eggs, slightly blotched with red, were laid in
February.
The rough bush-clad hills above our cliff are preserved, and presently
meeting the gamekeeper, we tried--(that daily toll of four partridges
plus sundry rabbits had got on our consciences!)--to put in a word for
our eagle-friends, assuring him they did him service by destroying
snakes and big lizards (which they don't). "Si, señor," he agreed,
adding, "y los insectos!"
[Illustration: BONELLI'S EAGLES SOARING AROUND EYRIE
Note white patch in centre of back, between the wings.]
Farther along the cliff we found two nests of neophron, each containing
two very handsome eggs. This bird makes a comfortable home, the
foundation being of sticks, but with a warmly lined central saucer,
bedecked with old bones, snakes' vertebrae, rabbit-skulls, and similar
ornaments. The nests were on overhung shelves of the vertical crag, and
(like those of the eagles) only accessible by rope. There lay a rat in
one--and rather "high."
Remaining denizens of these crags we can but briefly name. A pair of
eagle-owls had three young (fully fledged by June 10) in a deep
rock-fissure; there were also ravens, many lesser kestrels, and a colony
of genets.
III. OAK-WOOD AND SCRUB
Cistus and tree-heath, genista and purple heather that brushes your
shoulder as you ride, studded with groves of cork-oak--such was our
hunting-field. The reader's patience shall not be abused by a catalogue
of ornithological fact. True, we were studying bird-problems, and at the
moment the writer was endeavouring, amidst ten-foot scrub, to locate by
its song, a nest of Polyglotta--or was it _Bonellii_?--when in the
depths of osmunda fern was descried something _hairy_--it was a
wild-boar!... Three horsemen armed with _garrochas_ come galloping
through the bush--herdsmen rounding-up cattle? But this morning it is a
_bull_ they are rounding-up; and a bull that had grown so savage and
intractable that his life was forfeit. A crash in the brushwood and we
stand face to face. Three minutes later that bull fell dead with two
balls in his body; but two others, less well aimed, had whistled past
our ears. Those three minutes had been momentous--the choice, it had
seemed, lay between horn and bullet. Bird-nesting in Spanish wilds has
its serious side.
The afternoon was less eventful. Almost each islanded grove had yielded
spoil. We need not specify spectacled, subalpine, and orphean warblers,
woodpeckers, woodchats and grey shrikes, nightjars, owls, kestrels, and
kites--some prizes demanding patient watching, others a strenuous climb.
The last hour had resulted in discovering a nest of booted eagle, two of
black, and one of red kites, each with two eggs (the next tree held a
nest of the latter containing a youngster near full grown). We had
turned to ride homewards when, over a centenarian cork-oak on the
horizon, we recognised (by their buoyant flight and white undersides) a
pair of serpent-eagles. The grotesque old tree was half overthrown, and
on its topmost limb was established the snake-eaters' eyrie, containing
the usual single big white egg--this specimen, however, distinctly
splashed with reddish brown. In the same tree were also breeding cushats
and doves, a woodpecker with four eggs, and a swarm of bees who made
things lively for the climber. One of to-day's climbs, by the way, had
resulted incidentally in the capture of a family of dormice, _Lirones
avellanos_ in Spanish, handsome creatures with immense whiskers and
arrayed in contrasts of rich brown, black and white.
Half an hour later we descried the unmistakable eyrie of an imperial
eagle--a platform of sticks that crowned the summit of a huge cork-oak,
the more conspicuous since any projecting twigs that might interrupt the
view are always broken off. The eagle, entirely black with white
shoulders, only soared aloft when L. was already half-way up. The two
handsome eggs we left, though they have since, presumably, added two
more "detrimentals" to prey on our partridges. Eagles, so soon as adult,
pair for life; but that condition may require several years for full
attainment, and in the imperial eagle the adolescent period is passed in
a distinctive uniform of rich chestnut. So long ago as 1883, however, we
discovered the singular fact that this species breeds while yet
(apparently) "immature." That is, we have frequently found one of a
nesting pair in the paler plumage described, while its mate gloried in
the rich sable-black of maturity, as sketched on p. 31. This year (1910)
we had come across such a couple--they had two eggs on March 15--the
male being black, while his partner was parti-coloured. A curious
incident had occurred at that nest; at dawn next morning a griffon
vulture was discovered asleep close alongside the sitting eagle. But on
the arrival of the husband a furious scene ensued! The intruder (whom we
acquit of dishonourable intent) was set upon, hustled, and violently
ejected from the tree--hurriedly and dishevelled he departed. But
conjugal peace was soon restored, and presently the royal pair set out
in company for a morning's hunting.
These resident birds-of-prey breed early. We have found the eagles' eggs
by February 28, buzzards' on March 12, and red kites' on March 14.
This spring was remarkable for the numbers of hobbies that passed north
during May, sometimes in regular flocks. They often roosted in old
kites' nests, and when disturbed therefrom misled us into a futile
climb.
* * * * *
WHITE-TAILED OR SEA-EAGLE (_Haliaëtos albicilla_).--This does not
properly belong to the Spanish zone. We cannot find recorded a single
authentic instance of its occurrence in that country, but can supply one
ourselves.
In the early days of February 1898 we watched on several occasions an
eagle (which at the time we took to be Bonelli's) wildly chasing the
geese that are wont to assemble in front of our shooting-lodge. Splendid
spectacles these aerial hunts afforded. The selected goose, skilfully
separated from his company, made a grand defence. Fast he flew and far,
now low on water, now soaring upwards in widening circle; but all the
time gaggling and protesting against the outrage in strident tones that
we could hear a mile away. Never, so far as eyesight could reach, did
the assailant make good his hold.
Months afterwards--it was before daybreak on December 28 (1898)--the
authors lay awaiting the "early flight" of geese at the Puntal, hard by,
when an eagle (whether the same or not) appeared from out the gloom,
made a feint at No. 1's decoy-geese (made of wood), passed on and fairly
"stooped" at those of No. 2. A moment later the great bird-of-prey fell
with resounding splash, and proved to be (so far as we know) the only
sea-eagle ever shot in Spain--a female, weight 12-1/2 lbs., expanse just
under 8 feet.
* * * * *
This is not the only instance in our experience of eagles hunting before
the dawn. We recall several others. Apparently, if pressed by hunger,
eagles start business early--almost as early as we do ourselves.
SPOTTED EAGLE (_Aquila naevia_).--This also, like the last, is scarcely
a Spanish species; but a beautiful example, heavily spotted, was shot in
September in the Pinar de San Fernando by our friend Mr. Osborne of
Puerto Sta. Maria. It was one of a pair.
PEREGRINE AND PARTRIDGE.--CORRAL QUEMADO, _Jan. 27, 1909_. While posted
on a mesembrianthemum-clad knoll during a big-game drive, troops of
partridges kept streaming out from the covert behind. Their demeanour
struck both me and the next gun posted on a knoll 200 yards away. Across
the intervening glade, almost bare sand but for a stray tuft of rush or
marram-grass, the partridge ran to and fro in a dazed sort of way,
crouching flat as though terror-stricken, or standing upright, gazing
stupidly in turn. None dared to fly, though some were so near they could
not have failed to detect me. The mystery was solved when a peregrine
swept close overhead and made feint after feint: yet not a partridge
would rise. Well they knew that the falcon would not strike _on the
ground_; but what a "soft job" it would have been for a goshawk or
marsh-harrier! Presumably partridge discriminate between their winged
enemies and in each case adapt defence to fit attack.
An interesting scene was terminated by a lynx trotting out by my
neighbour, Sir Maurice de Bunsen, who might thus have been taken
unawares; only ambassadors are never believed to be so, and on this
occasion the spotted diplomat certainly got the ball quite right, behind
the shoulder.
MARSH-HARRIER (_Circus aeruginosus_).--Over dark wastes resound
"duck-guns sullenly booming." Thereat from reed-bed and cane-brake
awaken roosting harriers, quick to realise the import. It is long before
their normal "hours of business," but these miss no chances, and soon
the hidden gunner descries spectral forms drifting in the gloom--all
intent to share his spoils. Watch the robbers' methods. In the deep a
winged teal is making away, almost swash. The raptor feints again and
again, following the cripple's subaquatic course; but he never attempts
to strike till incessant diving has worn the victim out. Then--so soon
as the luckless teal is compelled to tarry five seconds above
water--instantly those terrible talons close like a rat-trap. Next comes
a lively wigeon, merely wing-tipped; but the water here is shoal and the
hawk dare not close. For the volume of mud and spray thrown up by those
whirling pinions would drench his own plumage. The wigeon realises his
advantage and sticks to the shallow--the raptor ever trying to force him
to the deep. The end comes all the same, though the process of
tiring-out occupies longer--sooner or later, down drop the yellow
legs--there is a moment of strenuous struggle and the duck is lifted and
borne ashore. Should no land be near, the branches of a submerged
samphire will serve for a dining-table. Within five minutes nought is
left but empty skin and clean-picked bones.
Obviously any attempt to seek dead at a distance or to recover cripples
is labour lost--once they drift, or swim, or dive, to the danger-radius
instantly the chattel passes to the rival "sphere of influence."
As early as February (and sometimes even in January) the abounding coots
begin to lay. The marsh-harrier notes the date and becomes a determined
oologist. Over the everlasting samphire-swamp resounds the reverberating
cry of the crested coot, _Hoo, hoo, Hoo, hoo_, so strikingly human that
one looks round to see who is signalling. Presently you hear the same
cry, but wailing in different tone and temper. That is a coot defending
hearth and home against the despoiler; and bravely is that defence
maintained. With a glass, one sees the coot throw herself on her back
and hold the hawk at bay, striking out right and left, for she has
powerful claws and can scratch like a cat. Often the assailant is fairly
beaten off; or should the fight end without visible issue, probably the
coveted eggs have been hustled overboard in the tussle. Then it amuses
to watch the harrier's frantic efforts to recover the sunken prizes from
the shallows.
[Illustration]
GREAT SPOTTED CUCKOO (_Oxylophus glandarius_).--A striking rakish form,
this stranger from unknown Africa silently appears in Spain during the
closing days of February or early in March. On the fifth evening of the
latter month, while rambling in the bush on the watch for "some new
thing," a hawk-like figure swept by and perched on the outer branches of
a thorny acacia. When shot, the bird dropped a yard or so, then
clutching a bough with prehensile zygodactylic claws, hung suspended
with so desperate a hold that it was with difficulty released. Waiting a
few minutes, a harsh resonant scream--_cheer-oh_, thrice
repeated--announced the arrival of the male, which fell winged on a
patch of bog beyond. Ere we could reach the spot the bird had run back,
regained the outer trees, and was climbing a willow-trunk more in the
style of parrot than cuckoo. The beak was used for steadying, and so
fast did it climb that we had to ascend after it.
The beak in this species opens far back, giving a very wide gape--colour
inside pink, deepening to dark carmine. We sketched and preserved both
specimens, see p. 41 and above.
* * * * *
As a rule this cuckoo disappears in early autumn, but we have an
exceptional record of its occurrence in winter. One was shot at San
Lucar de Barraméda, December 19, 1909.
This cuckoo, like all its old-world congeners,[70] is parasitic in its
domestic _ménage_--that is, it adopts a system of reproduction by
proxy--relying, as Canon Tristram long ago put it, on finding a
"foundling hospital" for its young. But even the keen intellect quoted
was at first at fault. For the great spotted cuckoo differs in one
essential point from that "wandering voice" with which we are familiar
at home. The latter deposits a single egg in casual nest of titlark,
hedge-sparrow, wagtail--in short, of any small bird, regardless of the
fact that its own egg may differ conspicuously from those of its
selected foster-parent. The spotted cuckoo is more circumspect.
Everywhere it restricts the delegated duty to some member of the
_Corvidae_,[71] and in Spain exclusively to the magpies. Moreover,
whether by accident or evolution, the cuckoo has so admirably adapted
the coloration of its own egg to resemble that of its victim, as to
deceive even so cute a bird as the magpie. Earlier ornithologists (as
above suggested) failed for a moment to distinguish the difference--it
was, in fact, the zygodactylic foot of an unhatched embryo that first
betrayed the secret (Tristram, _Ibis_, 1859). On close examination the
cuckoo's eggs differ in their more elliptic form and granular surface;
but, unless previously fore-warned and specially alert, no one would
suspect that these were not magpies' eggs, any more than does the magpie
itself.
The spotted cuckoo deposits two, three, and even four eggs in the _same_
magpie's nest, sometimes leaving the lawful owner's eggs undisturbed, in
other cases removing all or part of them--we have noticed spilt yoke at
the entrance. It would appear difficult, in these domed nests, for the
young cuckoos to eject their pseudo-brothers and sisters; but this
detail of their life-history remains, as yet, unsolved.
CROSSBILLS.--Nature delights in presenting phenomena which no tangible
cause appears to warrant. Such were the thrice-repeated invasions of
Europe by "Tartar hordes"--they were only sand-grouse--that occurred
during the past century (in 1863, 1872, and 1888); and in 1909 an
analogous problem, though on minor scale, was offered by crossbills.
From north to extreme south of our Continent these small forest-dwellers
precipitated themselves bodily westwards. This was in July. All the
west-European countries, from Norway to Spain, recorded an unwonted
irruption. In Andalucia (at Jerez) crossbills were first noticed about
mid-July, and their appearance so impressed country-folk little
accustomed to discriminate small birds, as to suggest to them the idea
that the strangers must have fled from Morocco to avoid the fighting
then raging around Melilla! But in Spain a further and anomalous
complexity followed. For the Spanish specimens we sent home, on being
submitted to Dr. Ernst Hartert, proved to belong to a purely Spanish
subspecies--a race distinguishable by its weaker mandibles and other
minor variations. Hence the movement in Spain had been purely internal,
and it became difficult to suppose that (although simultaneous) it could
have been predisposed and actuated by precisely the same motives as
those which compelled a more extensive exodus farther north. Thus
results the curious issue--that presumably different causes, operating
over a wide geographical area, produced similar and simultaneous
effects. These immigrant crossbills disappeared from Andalucia at the
end of August.
[Illustration: CROSSBILLS, ADULT AND YOUNG (_Loxia curvirostra_.)
JEREZ, July 1910.]
Crossbills we used to observe in winter in our pine-forests of Doñana;
but owing to local causes they have now missed several years. Their
migrations within Spain are rather on the vertical than the horizontal
plane--that is, merely seasonal movements between the higher lands and
the lower. In Spain, denuded of natural forest, the habitat of such
birds is narrowly restricted. Hence their sudden appearance in new
areas (such as this, at forestless Jerez) is at once conspicuous.
GLOSSY IBIS (_Plegadis falcinellus_).--Birds, as a rule, are strict
geographists. They recognise fixed range-boundaries and abide thereby.
But exceptions occur, and an instance has been offered by the glossy
ibis. This bird has always been a conspicuous member of the teeming
_pajaréras_, or mixed heronries, of our wooded swamps of Andalucia. But
it was only as a spring-migrant that the ibis was known. It arrived in
April and departed, after nesting, in September. A diluvial winter in
1907-8, however, apparently induced it to reconsider its "standing
orders." Already, that autumn, the ibises had departed--as usual. But in
December (the whole country meanwhile having been inundated) they
suddenly reappeared. Small parties distributed themselves over the
marismas, and with them came an unwonted profusion of other waders,
stilts and curlews, whimbrels and godwits, the latter a month or two
before their usual date. All availed the occasion to frequent far-inland
spots, normally dry bush and forest, _nota quae sedes fuerat columbis_,
and one saw flights of waders and even ducks, such as teal and shoveler,
circling over flooded forest-glades.
The changed quarters evidently met with approval, for each succeeding
year since then we have had the company of ibises _during winter_.
An immature ibis, shot January 30, otherwise in normal plumage, had the
head and neck brownish grey with curlew-like striations.
SLENDER-BILLED CURLEW (_Numenius tenuirostris_).--Years ago we wrote in
our wrath, moved thereto by the constant misuse of the term, that such a
thing as a "rare bird" does not exist, save only in a relative sense. Go
to its proper home, wherever that may be, and the supposed rarity is
found abundant as its own utility and nature's balances permit. Should
some lost wanderer straggle a few hundred miles thence, it is proclaimed
a "rare bird."
Against this, our old mentor, Howard Saunders, wrote across the
proof-sheet: "There ARE rare birds, some nearly extinct"; and the above
species affords an admirable example of these exceptions to the general
rule.
No one at present knows the true home of the slender-billed curlew, nor
the points (if any) where it is common, nor where it breeds. In southern
Spain it appears every year during February and at no other season;
while even then its visits are confined to a few days and to certain
limited areas. The photo at p. 250 shows a beautiful pair shot February
5, 1898. When met with, they are rather conspicuous birds,
distinguishable from whimbrel by their paler colour--indeed, on rising,
the "slender-bills" look almost white. A specially favoured haunt in the
Coto Doñana is the bare sandy flat in front of Martinazo.
When we first studied ornithology there still remained whole categories
of birds (many of them abundant British species) whose breeding-places
were utterly unknown.
One by one they have been removed from the list of "missing," forced to
surrender their secrets by the resistless, world-scouring energy of
ornithologists (mostly British). The year 1909 saw but ONE species yet
undiscovered--our present friend, the slender-billed curlew.
While we are yet busy with this book, the eggs of the slender-billed
curlew have been found--in Siberia!--the ultimate answer in all such
cases. The first was exhibited by Mr. H. E. Dresser at the meeting of
the British Ornithologists' Club on December 15, 1909, having been taken
by Mr. P. A. Schastowskij on the shores of Lake Tschany, near
Taganowskiye, in Siberia on the 20th of May preceding.
Yes, there _do_ exist "rare birds," and in Europe the slender-billed
curlew appears to be an excellent illustration of the fact.
SANTOLALLA, _December 29, 1897_.--A wild night, black as ink, and a
whole gale blowing from the eastward; an hour's ride through the scrub,
and five guns silently distribute themselves along the shores. Strategic
necessity placed us to windward, so most fowl were bound to fall in the
water. As stars pale to the dawn the flight begins, the dark skies
hurtle with the rush of passing clouds, and for two hours a steady
fusillade startles the solitude.
As ten o'clock approaches, one by one we seek the cork-oak, from beneath
whose canopy a welcome column of smoke has long announced that breakfast
was preparing. But considering the run of shooting we have heard, the
toll of game brought in seems humiliating. Each gunner, gloomily
depositing his fifteen or twenty, declares he has lost twice that number
in the open water!... Well, a list of "claims" being drawn up, it
appears that 205 duck are stated to have been shot, while only 120 can
be counted. In his inner conscience possibly each man regards the rest
as ... but, ere breakfast is over, here come the keepers. They have
ridden round the lee-shores and islets, and bring in another 114!
The bag after all sums up to 234, or actually nineteen more than the
sum-total of claims that we had been laughing at as extravagant. This is
the list:--
2 geese
8 mallard
53 wigeon
152 teal
4 gadwall
2 shoveler
3 pochard
9 tufted duck
There were also shot two cormorants (mistaken for geese in the
half-light), a marsh-harrier, two great crested grebes, and several
coots.
The incident illustrates an instance of scrupulous honesty.
OTHER COUNTRIES, OTHER STANDARDS
(A Sentiment about Wildfowl)
(_January 1909._)
A wet winter and flooded marisma--under our eyes float wildfowl in
league-long lengths; countless, but far out in open water. By experience
we know them to be unassailable. Yet these hosts seem to throw down the
gauntlet of defiance at our very doors; and under the reproach of that
unspoken challenge experience succumbs. That night we arranged to
dispose our six guns over a two-league triangle before the morrow's
dawn. After every detail had been fixed, to us our trusted pessimist,
Vasquez: "Ni por aqui ni por alli, ni por este lado ni por el otro, ni
por ninguna parte cualquiera, no harémos _náda_ por la mañana"--"Neither
on this side nor on that, neither to east nor west, nor at any other
point whatever, shall we do the slightest good to-morrow!"
On reassembling for breakfast, the result worked out as follows: 2
geese, 3 mallard, 29 wigeon, 26 teal, 7 gadwall, 4 shovelers, 1 marbled
and 1 tufted duck. Total, 73 head before ten o'clock, besides a curlew
and several golden plover, godwits and sundries.
We felt fairly satisfied; yet Vasquez's comment ran: "Seventy head among
six guns, _eso no es náda_ = that is nothing!"
NOTE.--The writer had in his pocket a letter from home: "We put in
six days' punt-gunning at the New Year. Frost severe and all
conditions favourable. My bag, 4 brent-geese, 2 mallard, 3 wigeon,
and a northern diver.--E. H. C."
Appendix
A SPECIFIC NOTE ON THE WILD-GEESE OF SPAIN
The Greylag Goose (_Anser cinereus_) is the only species we need here
consider. For of the many hundreds of wild-geese that we have shot and
examined during the eighteen years since the publication of _Wild
Spain_, every one has proved to be a Greylag. This is the more
remarkable inasmuch as an allied form, the Bean-Goose, was supposed in
earlier days to occur in Spain, though relatively in small numbers. Col.
Irby estimated the Bean-Geese as one to 200 of the Greylags; but no such
proportion any longer exists, at least in the delta of the Guadalquivir,
where, during eighteen years, hardly a single Bean-Goose has been
obtained.[72]
This abandonment of southern Spain by the Bean-Goose (presuming it was
ever found therein) appears inexplicable. The species has lately been
recognised as divisible into various races or subspecies (differing
chiefly in the form and colour of the beak),[73] for which reason it may
here be recorded that of the few Bean-Geese examined twenty years ago in
Spain, the beak was invariably dark to below the nasal orifice, with a
dark tip, and an intermediate band of rufous-chestnut.
Of the other three members of the genus, the Pink-footed Goose (_Anser
brachyrhynchus_) has never occurred in Spain; while neither the
white-fronted nor the lesser white-fronted species (_A. albifrons_ and
_A. erythropus_, L.) have ever been recorded save in an isolated
instance in either case. We have never met with any one of them--indeed,
the only wild-goose in our records, other than Greylag and half-a-dozen
Bean-Geese, is a single Bernacle (_Bernicla leucopsis_), one of three
that was shot at Santolalla by our late friend Mr. William Garvey.
Of the Greylags that winter in Andalucia, the great majority are
adults--that is (presuming our diagnosis to be correct), scarcely one in
four is a gosling of the year. The adult geese we distinguish by the
spur on the wing-point of the ganders and generally by their larger size
and heavier build. Their undersides, moreover, are more or less spotted
or barred with black--some wear regular "barred waistcoats," whereas the
young birds are wholly plain white beneath. The legs and feet of the
latter are also of the palest flesh-colour (some almost white), rarely
showing any approximation to a pink shade, and their beaks vary from
nearly white to palest yellow; whereas in the older, mostly
"spot-breasted," geese the beak is deep yellow to orange, and their legs
and feet are distinctly pink--some as pronouncedly so as in _A.
brachyrhynchus_. These "soft parts" are, however, subject to infinite
variation, and the above definition is a careful deduction from the
results of many years' observation.[74]
On several occasions we have examined from a dozen to a score of geese
without finding a single _gosling_ among them. The largest proportion of
the latter so recorded was on January 29, 1907, when of sixteen geese
shot, five (or possibly six) were young birds of the year before. All
these sixteen showed some white feathers on the forehead, and the
heaviest pair (two old ganders) weighed together 18-1/2 lbs.
As regards their weights, the following notes show the variation:--
During the severe drought of 1896, six geese weighed on November 26,
when almost starving for food and water, ranged from 6-1/4 to 7-3/4 lbs.
A month later, when rains had fallen, weights had increased to 8-1/4 to
9-1/4 lbs.
_December 28, 1899._--The heaviest of 29 scaled 9-1/4 lbs.
_January 30, 1905._--The geese this dry season are in fine condition. An
old gander, shot at Martinazo, exceeded 10-1/2 lbs., another pair, shot
right and left, scaled 9-1/2 and 10 lbs.
_February 4, 1907._--Two geese, the heaviest of eleven shot this
morning, weighed over 9 lbs. each, the pair scaling 18-1/4 lbs. It was a
severe frost, the shallows being covered with ice, and as each goose
fell, two bits of solid ice, in form as it were a pair of sandals, were
found lying alongside it, these having been detached by the fall from
the feet of the bird.
* * * * *
_1906. November 28._--Two pure white geese observed on Santolalla to-day
and on subsequent occasions. Though usually seen flying in company with
packs of normally coloured geese, the white pair always kept together.
_1907. January 25._--After a month's bitterly cold and dry weather with
few geese, the wind to-day shifted to east, with heavy rain. All day
long a continuous entry of geese took place from the south-westward, in
frequent successive packs--sometimes two or three lots in sight at once.
A sense of movement was perceptible over the whole marisma. Next morning
these newcomers were sitting in ranks of thousands by the "new water"
all along the verge of the marisma--a wondrous sight.
NOTES ON SOME WILDFOWL THAT NEST IN SOUTHERN SPAIN
WILD-DUCKS
PINTAIL (_Dafila acuta_).--In wet years a considerable number of
pintails remain to nest in the marismas of Guadalquivir, and by August
the broods (together with those of garganey, marbled duck, etc.)
assemble on the only waters that then remain--such as the Lagunas de
Santolalla, etc.
In 1908, a very wet spring, almost as many pintails bred here as
mallards, and in eight nests observed the maximum number of eggs was
nine. They resemble those of mallards, consisting of twigs with a few
feathers placed on the mud, and easily seen through the open clump of
samphire which shelters them.[75]
MALLARD (_Anas boschas_), in the marisma, nest in precisely similar
situations, but their eggs number twelve or fourteen. Elsewhere their
nests (being among bush or reedbeds) are less easily seen.
WIGEON (_Mareca penelope_) never breed, though chance birds (and some
greylags also) remain every summer--possibly wounded.
GADWALL (_Anas strepera_) do not nest in the open marisma, but many
pairs retire to the rush-fringed inland lagoons, such as Zopiton and
Santolalla. They lay nine to twelve eggs about mid-May, usually at a
short distance from the water.
TEAL (_Nettion crecca_) remain quite exceptionally. Even in that wet
spring, 1908, only a single nest was found. There were eight eggs laid
on bare mud, with hardly any nest, beneath a samphire bush. Though quite
fresh, and placed at once under a hen, these eggs did not hatch.
GARGANEY (_Querquedula circia_) breed among the samphire in the open
marisma--in wet seasons quite numerously. Seven young, caught newly
hatched in 1908 and kept alive at Jerez, showed no distinctive sexual
coloration all that autumn or up to February 1909. Early in March three
drakes became distinguishable, the most advanced being complete in
feather by the 15th, and all three perfect by April 1.
Young pintails, on the other hand, acquire complete sexual dress in the
autumn, as mallards do, by November.
Garganey also nest in large numbers on the lagoons of Daimiel in La
Mancha.
MARBLED DUCK (_Querquedula angustirostris_).--This is one of the most
abundant of the Spanish-breeding ducks, nesting both in the marisma and
along the various channels of the Guadalquivir. Their nests,
substantially built of twigs of samphire, dead reeds, and grass, lined
with down, are carefully concealed among covert, usually on dry ground.
Some are approached by a sort of tunnel. Exceptionally we have seen a
nest built a foot high in the branches of a samphire bush with a clear
space beneath, and overhanging shallow water. The eggs, laid at the end
of May, vary from twelve to fourteen, and in one instance
twenty--possibly the produce of two females. We find these the most
difficult of all the ducks to rear in confinement. Probably their food
is quite different, anyway they are very bad eating.
Marbled ducks are unknown at Daimiel.
SHOVELERS (_Spatula clypeata_) only breed exceptionally and in wet
seasons; we found one nest at Las Nuevas in 1908. Though abundant in
winter, does not breed at Daimiel.
FERRUGINOUS DUCKS (_Fuligula nyroca_), like all the diving tribe, breed
only on deep and permanent lakes, such as those of Medina and Daimiel,
where they abound all summer. None nest in the marisma, which in summer
is largely dry. Nests, mid-May; eggs, nine or ten.
POCHARD (_Fuligula ferina_).--Though we have not found it ourselves, one
of our fowlers (Machachado) tells us that pochards breed on the lakes,
and even more in Las Nuevas, laying but few eggs--five to seven.
RED-CRESTED POCHARD (_Fuligula rufila_).--This is the characteristic
breeding-duck at Daimiel in La Mancha, as well as on the Albufera of
Valencia, at both of which points it abounds. Yet curiously it is all
but unknown on the Bætican marismas. Among the thousands of ducks we
have shot therein, but a single example of the red-crested pochard
figures--a female killed January 19, 1903.
TUFTED DUCK (_Fuligula cristata_).--None remain, though abundant in
winter.
WHITE-FACED DUCK (_Erismatura leucocephala_).--This species, known as
_Bamboléta_ or _Malvasía_, arrives in spring and breeds commonly on
every deep pool and reed-girt lagoon in Andalucia.
SHELDUCKS (_Tadorna cornuta_), we are assured (though this we have not
proved), breed in the marisma in hollows (_hoyos_)--such as the
cavernous footprints made by cattle in the soft mud in winter. Common in
dry winters.
RUDDY SHELDUCK (_Tadorna casarca_).--These are seen here all summer, yet
we have failed to discover their breeding-places. They are common, old
and young, on the Laguna de Medina in August and September. This is a
striking species of stately flight and clear-toned ringing
cry--_H[=a][=a]-[)a][)a]_--thrice repeated.
WAGTAILS
PIED WAGTAIL (_Motacilla lugubris_).--This familiar British species
occurs rarely in S. Spain--we have but four records, all in winter. In
the reverse, the WHITE WAGTAIL (_M. alba_) abounds--ploughed lands
sometimes look _grey_ with it; and it is here, in winter, as tame and
familiar as one sees it in Norway and Iceland in summer. Yet midway
between the two, _i.e._ in the British Isles, we have seen it but
thrice! There it may indeed be termed a "rare bird." The explanation
seems to be that (like the two southern wheatears) these two wagtails
are not specifically distinct, but merely a dimorphic form. This year
(June 1910) we found the white wagtail breeding commonly in North
Estremadura.
During a northerly hurricane on February 7, 1903, we observed an
assemblage of many hundreds of white wagtails on the barren sand-dunes
of Majada Real--a second crowd, as numerous, a mile away. Both were
migrating bands arrested by the gale. This is merely one example out of
scores that have come under our notice of the magical apparition of
birds from the clouds, caused by a sudden change of wind. Specially
notable, besides wagtails, are swallows, wheatears, pipits and larks.
The GREY WAGTAIL (_M. melanope_), though occasionally seen in winter, is
most conspicuous about mid-February, when it passes several days on our
lawn at Jerez. It has not then acquired the black throat of spring; but
two months later we have found it nesting on mountain-burns of the
sierras--precisely such situations as it frequents among the
Northumbrian moors.
The YELLOW WAGTAIL (_M. flava_; the Continental form, _cinereocapilla_)
appears on the lawn a week or so after the grey species has disappeared;
but this remains throughout the spring, nesting in wet meadows and
marshes, laying during the last week of April.
The British form (_M. raii_) also occurs during spring, but rarely and
on passage only, none remaining to nest.
RESTRICTED DISTRIBUTION
ROOK (_Corvus frugilegus_).--There is a certain limited stretch--say a
league or so, on the foreshores of the marisma--whither each winter come
a few scores of rooks. At that one spot, and nowhere else within our
knowledge, are rooks to be found in southern Spain.
MAGPIE (_Pica caudata_).--On the western bank of Guadalquivir this bird
abounds to a degree we have seen surpassed nowhere else on earth. But
cross that river, and never another magpie will you see for a hundred
miles to the eastward. For it the lower Bætis marks a frontier. Over the
rest of Spain its distribution is normal and regular.
A similar remark would almost hold good of the Jackdaw (_Corvus
monedula_).
The AZURE-WINGED MAGPIE (_Cyanopica cooki_) abounds in central Spain and
in the Sierra Moréna. But its southern range stops dead at the little
village of Coria del Rio just below Sevilla. 'Tis but a few miles
beyond, yet in Doñana we have never seen so much as a straggler. The
Azure-wing does not straggle.
From Spain (as elsewhere stated) you must travel to China and Japan ere
you see another azure-winged magpie.
JAYS (_Garrulus glandarius_) in Spain confine themselves to
mountain-forests, eschewing the lowland woods which in other lands form
their home.
Index
Absenteeism, 12
Accentor, alpine, 222, 316
Africa, 29, 40, 41, 67, 91, 111, 112, 381, 383;
bird natives of, 272
Africa, British East, 272, 295
African bush-cuckoo, 400 _n._ 1
Agriculture, Moorish, 9-10;
Spanish, 11
Alagon River, 232 and _n._ 1, 233, 295
Albufera Lake, 321-4, 410
Alfonso XII., 37, 190, 292
Alfonso XIII., 19, 26, 31, 37, 72, 131, 140, 190, 206, 292, 336
Algamita, Sierra of, 176
Algeciras, 295
_Alimañas_, 28, 42, 337-46
Almanzór, Plaza de, 140, 213, 216, 217, 286
Almonte, village of, 82 _et seq._
Almoraima, 363
Alpuxarras, the, 142, 302, 305
_Alquerías_ (Las Hurdes), 235, 236, 241
America, flamingoes in, 273
_Anatidae_, 40;
distribution of, in S. Spain, 136
Andalucia, 2, 4, 10, 351, 393, 401, 402, 403;
bandits in, 175 _et seq._;
big game of, 54 _et seq._;
birds of, 40 _et seq._, 222, 393-5, 403
Ant-lion (_Myrmeleon_), 36
Arabs. _See_ Moors
Arahal, Niño de, bandit, 176 _et seq._
_Armajo_ (samphire), 89-90, 91, 106, 114
Asturias, the, 294 _et seq._;
chamois in, 283-93
Avila, 213, 219
Avocet, 268, 385
Badger, 337, 344, 345
Bandits, 174 _et seq._
Barbary stag, 43, 44
Barbel, 298-9, 393
Basques, the, 5
Bear, 289, 298;
brown, 4, 29, 294
Bear-hunting, 296-7
Bee-eater, 41, 209, 211, 226, 393
Bernicle goose, 191, 407
Bewick's swan, 375
Bharal, 26
Bidassoa River, 2
Big game in Spain, 6, 28-9, 54 _et seq._, 148 _n._ 1, 303
Bird-life on the marisma, 40-42, 91 _et seq._, 114 _et seq._, 138 _n._ 1,
265-71, 376, 381-91, 408, 409
Bird-migration, 29, 40, 41-2, 91-2, 99 and _n._ 1, 103-4, 111, 376-80, 389-90,
401-3
Blackbird, 223
Black-chat, 222, 230, 319, 353 _n._ 1, 367
Blackstart, 313, 318, 352, 362, 367
Boar, wild, 29, 42, 47, 68-9, 70 _et seq._, 147, 161, 171, 191, 229, 238, 289,
353, 365-6, 396
Boar-hunting, 70 _et seq._
_Boga_, 299
Bombita I., matador, 199
Bombita II. (Ricardo Torres), 199, 205
Bonaparte, Joseph, 196-7
Bonelli's eagle, 28, 289, 355, 362, 366, 394-5
Bonelli's Warbler, 232, 318, 393
Bonito, 300
Brambling, 62
Breeding-places of flamingoes, 265-71
Bull, the Spanish fighting, breeding and training of, 200-204;
breeds of, 88, 204, 208
Bull-fight, the Spanish, 8, 15, 192-9
Bull-fighters, famous, 195-9
Bull-frog, 392
Bustard, 212, 226, 227, 232;
great, 4, 11, 24, 29, 119, 209, 242-64;
lesser (_Otis tetrax_), 29, 262-4, 328, 392
Bustard-shooting, 244 _et seq_.
Butterflies, 62, 313
_Lycaena telicanus_, 62
_Megaera_, 62
_Thaïs polyxena_, 62, 394
_Vanessa polychloros_, 394
Buzzard, 228, 342, 397
_Cabrestos_, 371-3, 379
Caceres, province, 228 _n._ 1
_Caciquismo_, 175, 180-81, 240
_Cactus_ (prickly-pear), 9
Caldereria, 324-7
Camels, wild, on the marisma, 36, 40, 275-82
Cantabria, 4, 28, 29, 298;
mountains of, 286
Cape de Verde Islands, 266, 271 _n._ 1
Capercaillie, 4, 29, 294, 298
Cares River, 284, 296
Castile, 5, 29
Catalonia, 5 and _n._ 1
Cavestany, Sr. D. A., Spanish poet laureate, 164
Central Asia, wild camels in, 276
Cervantes, 183
Cetti's warbler, 61, 393
Chaffinch, 164, 319
Chameleon, 394
Chamois, 4, 29;
in the Asturias, 283-93, 294;
preservation of, 142
Chamois-shooting, 286 _et seq._
Chapman, Mr. F., 273
Chapman, Mr. J. Crawhall, 280
Charles V., Emperor, 194
Chough, 222, 309, 319, 353, 355, 358, 366, 367
Ciguela River, 185
Cinco Lagunas, Las, 141, 215
Cirl-bunting, 319, 348
Cistus (_Helianthemum_), 37, 50, 62
Climate of Spain, effects of, 2-4
Coot, 186, 188, 207, 326, 384, 387, 388, 399;
crested, 399
Cormorant, 186
_Corros_, 376-80
Cortez, 231
_Corvidae_, 401
_Corvus cornix_, 401 _n._ 1
Costillares, bull-fighter, 196
Coto Doñana, 30 _et seq._, 58, 59, 74, 78, 89, 122, 332, 343, 402, 404;
fauna of, 38 _et seq._
Crag-martin, 319, 366, 367, 368
Crake, 39
Crane, 40, 392
Crossbill, 351;
migrations of, 401-3
Cuckoo, 313, 393;
great spotted, 41, 400-401
Curlew, 403;
slender-billed, 392, 403-4;
stone-, 227, 232, 343
Cushat, 396
Daimiel, lagoons of, 185-91, 324, 409, 410;
town of, 191
Dampier, 266, 271 _n._ 1
Dartford Warbler, 61, 223, 353 _n._ 1
Date-palm, 4
Deer, 94, 148, 161, 171, 333, 343;
fallow, 28, 148 and _n._ 1, 228 and _n._ 1;
red, 42 _et seq._, 147, 155-6, 158 and _n._ 1, 228, 238,; _tables_, 170-3;
roe-, 165, 229, 298, 353, 363
Deer-shooting ("driving"), 44, 156 _et seq._
Deer-stalking, 44 _et seq._, 60
Despeñaperros, 149
Deva River, 284, 296
Dipper, 211, 319
Diving ducks, 101, 112, 138 _n._ 1, 324
Don Quixote, country of, 183, 228
Dormice, 396
Dove, 209, 226, 393, 396;
turtle, 212, 331
"Driving" (_see also Monteria_), 44, 47 _et seq._, 59 _et seq._, 115, 116-22,
248-55, 286 _et seq._, 338-40, 360-62
Duck, 40, 41, 95, 96, 99, 102, 186-90, 322, 324 _et seq._, 375
_n._ 1, 383, 388, 403;
habits of, 106, 110-11, 187;
ferruginous, 101, 186, 190, 409;
marbled, 101, 112, 135, 383, 389, 409;
tufted, 101, 138 _n._ 1, 186, 410;
white-faced, 384, 386-7, 410
Duck-hawk, 102, 186
Duck-shooting, 108, 187-90
Dunlin, 63 _n._ 1
Dwarf-juniper, 315
Eagle, 38, 222, 228, 333, 334, 342, 363;
Bonelli's, 28, 289, 355, 362, 366, 394-5;
booted, 396;
golden, 28, 153, 156, 317, 353-5, 362;
imperial, 28, 258-9, 396-7;
spotted, 398;
white-tailed or sea-, 397-8
Eagle-owl, 343, 368, 370, 395
Egret, 186, 382, 385, 392
Espinosa, Pedro, 37
Estepa, 175 _n_. 1.
Estremadura, 80, 225-33;
climate of, 230;
fauna of, 29, 43, 226, 228
Falcon, 334;
peregrine, 135, 317, 398
Fantail warbler, 61
Ferdinand VII., 195, 197
Firecrest, 352
Flamingo, 25 and _n._ 1, 40, 94-5, 100-101, 134, 186, 191, 327, 382, 383;
breeding-places of, 265-74;
_Phoenicopterus minor_, 272 _n._ 1;
_Phoenicopterus ruber_, 273
"Flighting," 122-4, 136
Fly-catcher, 41;
pied, 232, 319;
spotted, 232
Foumart, 341
Fowling, Spanish modes of, 371-5, 379
Fox, 46, 60, 129, 226, 277, 317, 333, 334, 337 _et seq._
Francolin, 321
Frascuelo, bull-fighter, 197-8
Fuen-Caliente, 142, 149-50, 171
Gadwall, 101, 111, 384, 409
Gaëtanes, 2
Galicia, 4
Game preservation in Spain, 335-6
Garganey, 112, 190, 384, 409
Gecko, lobe-footed, 394
Genet, 171, 334, 337, 395
Gibraltar, 355
Godoy, 196
Godwit, 42, 63 _n._ 1, 134, 392, 403,;
bartailed, 389;
black-tailed, 390
Goose, bean, 407;
bernicle, 191, 407;
black (_Ganzos negros_), 186;
greylag, 31, 32-3, 92, 95, 102, 114 _et seq._, 120, 125, 127, 191, 373, 375
_n._ 1, 407-8;
pink-footed, 407
Goths, the, 229, 231
Granada, 10, 301
Granadilla, 232 and _n._ 1, 233
Grasshopper (_Cigarras panzonas_), 259
Grebe, 186, 190;
eared, 387
Grédos, Circo de, chief features of, 141, 213-15
Greenshank, 390
Griffon. _See under_ Vulture
Guadalete, battle of, 7, 229
Guadalquivir River, 30, 35, 299, 374, 391, 411;
marismas of, 88 _et seq._, 114, 190, 265, 408, 409
Guadiana River, 185
Guerra, Rafael, bull-fighter, 198
Gull, 41, 186, 384;
black-backed, 107;
British black-headed (_L. ridibundus_), 391;
Mediterranean black-headed (_Larus melanocephalus_), 268, 390-91
slender-billed (_Larus gelastes_), 268
Gum-cistus (_see also_ Cistus), 160, 225, 235
Hare, 226, 238, 328, 330, 331, 334
Hawfinch, 61, 362
Hawk, 333
Hazel-grouse, 4, 29, 298
Heron, 41, 186, 190, 382
buff-backed, 385
purple, 267, 388
squacco, 389
Hobby, 397
Hoopoe, 41, 62, 184, 226, 230, 313, 319, 393
Humming-bird hawk-moth, 62
Hunting dogs, 159, 164, 328, 340
Hurdanos, the, 5, 234 _et seq._
Ibex, Spanish (_Capra hispánica_), 15, 26, 29, 43, 139-46, 149, 156, 210, 287,
303 _et seq._, 317, 321-2, 352, 360 and _n._ 1, 362;
distribution of, 142, 303, 305;
habits of, 144-6, 152, 153, 360;
heads, _Table of_, 157;
preservation of, 139-42
Ibex-hunting, 216-24, 304 _et seq._
Ibis, 41, 382
glossy, 403
Inns (_posada_), 18, 19 _et seq._
Irrigation, neglect of, 12, 230
Isabel I. (_la Católica_), 194
Isabella II., 323
James I., 321
Janda, Laguna de, 375 _n._ 1
Jay, 164, 362, 411
Jerez, 347, 392, 401, 403
Kestrel, 164, 212, 226, 230, 319, 396
lesser, 355, 395
Kite, 211, 333, 334, 342, 396
red, 397
Kitty-wren, 348
Knot, 42, 63 _n._ 1, 389
Lagartijo, bull-fighter, 197-8
Laguna de Grédos, 219, 220
La Mancha, 183-91, 409, 410
Lammergeyer, 26-7, 149, 217-8, 314-5, 353, 357, 358-9, 360, 362, 367, 368
Land-tortoise, 343
Lanjarón, 306
Lark, 41, 212, 226, 232
Calandra, 209
crested, 209, 319
short-toed, 319
sky-, 312
wood-, 313, 319, 348, 352, 353 _n._ 1, 367
Las Hurdes, 5, 233 _et seq._
Las Nuevas, 99 _et seq._, 280
Lemming, 210 _n._ 1
León, 5;
Cortes de, 6
Lilford, Lord, 265
Linnet, 319
Lizard, 333, 334, 355
_Blanus cinereus_, 393
Locusts, 226, 227
Lugar Nuevo, 172
Lynx, 33, 46, 60, 68, 76-7, 155, 171, 317, 333, 334, 337 _et seq._, 398
Madoz, Pascual, on the Hurdanos, 239 and _n._ 1, 240, 241
Magpie, 226, 232, 333, 401, 411
Spanish azure-winged, 29, 164, 184, 209, 225, 226, 411
Mallard, 186, 188, 190, 326, 327, 384, 389, 392, 409
_Manzanilla_ (camomile), 111
Maria, José, bandit, 174, 181
Marisma, the, 35-6, 88 _et seq._, 190;
bird-life in, 40-42, 91 _et seq._, 114 _et seq._, 138 _n._ 1, 265-71, 376,
381-91, 408, 409;
plant-life in, 89-90, 115;
wild camels on, 36, 40, 275-82;
wildfowl shooting in, 95 _et seq._, 105-13, 115 _et seq._, 371-75
Marmot, 210 _n._ 1
Marsh-harrier, 38, 102, 107, 135, 387, 388, 392, 399
Marsh-tern, 384
Marten, 171, 317, 319
Martin, 355
Mazzantini, Luis, bull-fighter, 198-9
Merida, 229, 230
Mezquitillas, 167, 170, 171
Migration of wildfowl. _See_ Bird-migration
Missel-thrush, 212, 318
"Miura question," 192, 204-7
Mole-cricket, 392
Monachil River, 314, 316, 317, 318, 319
valley, 311
Mongoose, 163, 171, 333, 334, 337, 339, 341, 344, 364
_Montería_, 157, 158 _et seq._, 283, 296
Montes, Francisco, bull-fighter, 197
Moorish domination, traces of, 7 _et seq._, 37, 232-3, 295
origin of bull-fight, 8, 193-4
Moors, the, 149, 229
Mosquito, 62
Mudéla, estate, 335
Mulahacen, 312, 315
Mullet, grey, 299
Naranjo de Bulnes, 291-2
National characteristics, 5, 12 _et seq._, 19
types, 4-5
Navarre, 6
_Neophron_, 319, 366, 368, 395
Nightingale, 232, 318, 393
Nightjar, 41, 396
_Nucléo central_, 140
Nuthatch, 223, 232
Oleander, 160, 166 and _n._ 1
Orange, cultivation of, 9
Oriole, 393
golden, 41, 232
Orphean warbler, 393, 396
Ortolan, 319
Osprey, 191
Otter, 337
_Ovis bidens_, 352-3
Owl, 396
little, 319
white, 230
Paris, Comtes de, 278-9
Partridge, 15, 30, 32, 164, 226, 238, 331, 332-3, 335-6, 362, 363, 398
grey, 28, 298
redleg, 15, 29, 184, 319, 328, 329
Peewit, 267
Pelayo, 7
Pelican, Danish, 276
Peñones, the, 314, 315
Pepe-Illo, bull-fighter, 196
Peregrine falcon, 135, 317, 398
Perez, Gregorio, 292, 293
Pernales, bandit, 174 _et seq_.
Petroleum, 347 _n._ 1
Phillip II., 195
Phillip III., 195, 323
Phillip IV., 37, 195
Phillip V., 195
_Pica mauretanica_, 401 _n._ 1
Picos de Europa, 142, 144, 283, 285, 292, 302
Pig, 298, 363
Pilgrimages to Rocio, 82 _et seq._
"Pincushion" gorse, 314, 352
Pine (_Pinus pinaster_), 319, 361
Pinsapo pine (_Abies pinsapo_), 349-52 and _notes_, 360, 362
Pintail, 94, 97, 101, 110, 111, 186, 188, 326, 408, 409
"Piorno" (_Spartius scorpius_), 352
Pipit, alpine, 222
tawny, 319, 353 _n._ 1, 367
Pius V., Pope, 194
Pizarro, 231
Plant-life in the marisma, 89-90, 115
Plover, golden, 63 _n._ 1, 331
grey, 42, 134, 389
Kentish, 267, 382
Pochard, 101, 138 _n._ 1, 186, 188, 324, 327, 384, 410
red-crested (_Pato colorado_), 186, 188, 190, 327, 410
white-eyed, 138 _n._ 1, 384
Polyglotta warbler, 393
Pratincole, 268, 382 and _n._ 1
Praying mantis, 394
Préjavalsky, Russian explorer, 276
Ptarmigan, 4, 29, 298
_Pterostichus rutilans_, 314
Puerta de Palomas, 367-70
Puntales del Peco, 167
Pyrenean musk-rat, 29
Pyrenees, 28, 29, 298, 302;
ibex in, 142, 143-4
Quail, 29, 328, 330
Rabbit, 330, 338, 341
Rail, 39
"Rare birds," 403, 404
Raven, 209, 222, 309, 319, 366, 395
_Reclamo_ (call-bird), 328-9
Redondo, José, bull-fighter, 197
Redshank, 267, 268, 379
Redstart, 223
Redwing, 164, 362
Reed-climbers, 39, 61
Ribbon-grass (_canaliza_), 115
Rice-grounds, 322, 323, 324-5
Ring-dotterel, 390
lesser, 393
Ring-ouzel, 222, 309, 316, 353 _n._ 1
Ring-plover, 238
Riscos del Fraile, 141, 211, 214, 221
Robin, 232, 318
Rocio, shrine at, pilgrimages to, 82 _et seq._
Rock-bunting, 313, 319, 348, 367
Rock-climbing, 144
Rock-sparrow, 319, 355
Rock-thrush, 222, 313, 318, 353 _n._ 1, 366, 367, 368
blue, 230, 365
Roderick, King of the Goths, 7
Roe-deer, 165, 229, 298, 353, 363
Roller, 226, 393
Romans, the, in Spain, 6, 229, 232
Romero, Francisco, bull-fighter, 195
Romero, Pedro, bull-fighter, 196
_Ronda_, _Caceria á la_, 80-1
Rook, 411
Rota, 299
Rudolph, late Crown Prince of Austria, 266
Ruff, 63 _n._ 1, 134
Rufous warbler, 232, 318, 393
Salmon, 295-6
San Cristobal, 347, 349, 351, 352, 353
Sanderling, 390
Sand-grouse, 4, 29, 186, 209, 227, 382, 401;
black-bellied, 232
Sand-hills and wild geese, 125-32
Sand-lizard, 62 and _n._ 1
Sand-piper, 211, 389
curlew, 42, 389
green, 390, 392
Sardinian warbler, 164, 393
Saunders, Howard, 265, 403
Schastowskij, Mr. P. A., 404
Sedge-warbler, great, 387
Serin, 311, 313, 319, 348, 393
Serpent-eagle, 209, 396
Serranía de Ronda, 2, 267, 347-59, 360 _et seq._;
flora of, 348 _et seq._, 360, 361;
ibex in, 142
Shad, 299
Shelduck, 101, 112, 191, 327, 410
ruddy, 410
Shoveler, 97, 101, 111, 112, 186, 188, 327, 403, 409
Shrike, great grey (_Lanius meridionalis_), 62, 63 _n._ 2, 212, 393
_Lanius excubitor_, 63 _n._ 2
Siberia, 404
Sierra Bermeja, 349, 360-63
Sierra de Gata, 227, 235
Sierra de Grédos, 140, 208 _et seq._, 302;
ibex in, 142, 145, 210 _et seq._, 352
Sierra de Guadalupe, 227 and _n._ 1
Sierra de Jerez, 363-7
Sierra Moréna, 29, 411;
fauna of, 42, 142, 147 _et seq._;
flora of, 160, 225
Sierra Nevada, 301 _et seq._, 355;
birds of, 311-16. 318-19;
ibex in, 142, 148-9, 303, 317
Sierra de las Nieves, 349
Sierra Quintana, 149-53, 171
Silk manufacture, Moorish, 9-10
Small-game shooting, 328-36
Snake, 334
coluber, 393
Snipe, 327, 330, 331, 392
Snow-finch, 316, 318
Soldier-ants, 61
Spear-grass, 90, 92, 95, 115
Spectacled warbler, 232, 396
Sphinx moth (_S. convolvuli_), 62
Spoonbill, 327, 383
"Still-hunting," 54 _et seq._, 60
Stilt, 190, 267, 268, 385, 392, 403
Stint, little, 390
Stonechat, 209, 211, 319
Stone-curlew, 227, 232, 343
Stork, 40, 230, 392
Subalpine warbler, 232, 396
Sugar-cane, 4, 9
Swan, wild, 375; Bewick's, _ib._
Swift, alpine, 355
Tagus River, 228 _n._ 1;
valley of, 210
Tarifa, 300
Tarik, Arab chief, 7
Tato, El, bull-fighter, 197
Teal, 91, 97, 101, 111, 126, 134, 188, 327, 373, 399, 403, 409
marbled, 186
Tench, 295
Tern, 41;
gull-billed (_Sterna anglica_), 268;
whiskered, 389
Thistle, Spanish, 248, 262
Thrush, 164, 223;
blue, 222, 313, 318, 319, 353 _n._ 1, 362, 367
Tit, blue, 319, 352;
cole, 319, 352, 367;
great, 319;
long-tailed, 232, 348, 367
Toledo, Montes de, 147, 148 and _n._ 1, 184, 227 _n._ 1
Tormes River, 221, 223
Tree-creeper, 367
Trout, 15-16, 294-5, 309, 317
Trujillo, 227, 229, 230-31, 295
Tumbler-pigeons, 126
Tunny, 299-300
Valdelagrana, 172
Valencia, 2, 4, 187;
ibex in, 142;
wildfowl in, 321-7, 410
Veleta, Picacho de la, 312 _et seq._
_Vetas_, 88-9, 90, 115, 122
Villarejo, 221
Villaviciosa, Don Pedro Pidal, Marquis de, 292, 296
Vivillo, El, bandit, 175 _et seq._, 181-2
Vulture, 67, 228, 356 and _n._ 1, 362, 366, 367-8
black, 221-2
griffon, 163, 222, 315, 319, 359, 364, 367, 369, 370, 397
Waders, 41, 382, 403
Wagtail, grey, 318, 348, 410
pied, 410
white, 232, 237, 410
yellow, 410-11
Warblers. _See_ under names
Water-hen, purple (_Porphyrio_), 388
Water-shrew, 103, 166
Wheatear, 41, 184, 211, 223, 312, 313, 318, 353 _n._ 1
black-throated, 318
eared, 318
Whimbrel, 390, 392, 403, 404
Whitethroat, 232, 318
Wigeon, 97, 101, 110, 111, 186, 188, 327, 380, 399, 409
Wild-cat, 165, 167, 226, 317, 333, 334, 337 _et seq._
Wildfowl at Daimiel, 186-91, 409, 410
of marisma, 40-2, 91 _et seq._, 114 _et seq._, 381-91, 408, 409
shooting, 95 _et seq._, 105-13, 115 _et seq._, 131-2, 254, 323-7, 371-5, 379
in Valencia, 321 _et seq._
Wild-thyme (_Cantuéso_), 225
Willow-warbler, 232
Wolf, 147, 154, 156, 164, 171, 229, 238, 289, 306, 317, 319, 334
Woodchat, 41, 318, 393, 396
Woodcock, 331
Wood-pecker, 396
great black, 298
green, 68 and _n._ 2, 164, 232
spotted, 367
Wood-pigeon, 362, 367
Wren, 282, 318
Wryneck, 311
Yna de la Garganta, 355-7
Zamujar, 172
Zaragoza, Cortes of, 6
THE END
_Printed by_ R. & R. CLARK, LIMITED, _Edinburgh_.
* * * * *
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Catalonia was a separate State, under independent rulers, the Counts
of Barcelona, until A.D. 1131, when it was merged in the Kingdom of
Arragon.
[2] The term "Moor" has always seemed to us a trifle unfortunate, as
tending to indicate that the conquering race came from Morocco--"Turks"
or "Arabs" would have been a more appropriate title. For fifty years
after the conquest Spain was governed by Emirs subject to the Kaliphs of
Damascus, the first independent power being wielded by the Emir
Abderahman III. who, in 777, usurped the title of Kaliph of Cordoba.
That kaliphate, by the way, during its earlier splendours, became the
centre of universal culture, Cordoba being the intellectual capital of
the world, with a population that has been stated at two millions.
[3] For the information of readers who have not studied the subject, it
may be well to add that, during the early years of the seventeenth
century, something like a million of Spanish Moors--the most industrious
of its inhabitants--were either massacred in Spain or expelled from the
country.
[4] At a big hotel the menu on May 26 included (as usual) "partridges."
We emphasised a mild protest by refusing to eat them; but the landlord
scored with both barrels. On opening our luncheon-basket next day (we
had a twelve-hours' railway journey), there were the rejected redlegs!
We had to eat them then--or starve!
[5] We have seen an exception to this in the mountain villages of the
Castiles, where on _fiesta_ nights a sort of rude valse is danced in the
open street.
[6] By their peculiar style of aviation these birds, swaying up and down
and swerving on zigzag courses, alternately expose a scintillating
crimson mass suddenly flashing into a cloud of black and rosy
white--according as their brilliant wing-plumage or their white bodies
are presented to the eye. "A flame of fire" is the Arab signification of
their name _flamenco_.
[7] No offence to our scientific friends aforesaid. We recognise their
argument and respect its thoroughness, though regarding it as
occasionally misdirected. Possibly in their splendid zeal they overlook
the danger of reducing scientific classification to a mere monopoly
confined to a few score of professors, specialists, and
cabinet-naturalists, instead of serving as an aid and general guide (as
is surely its true intention) to thousands of less learned students.
Over-elaboration is apt to beget chaos.
[8] We have known the spoor of a wounded stag pass beneath strong
interlacing branches so low that, in following, we have had to wriggle
under on hands and knees. The spoor showed there had been no such
cervine necessity.
[9] Weight, clean, two days killed, 78 kilos = 180 lbs.
[10] There are sand-lizards identical in colour with the sand
itself--pale yellow or drab, adorned with wavy black lines closely
resembling the wind-waves on the sand.
[11] There are, of course, exceptions, such as golden plovers, ruffs,
dunlin, godwits, knots, that do assume a vernal dress.
[12] This, the southernmost form of the green woodpecker, has much the
most ringing voice. The closely allied northern form, _G. canus_, that
one hears constantly in Norway, utters but a sharp monosyllabic note. A
second curious fact may here be mentioned: that the great grey shrike,
just named, _Lanius meridionalis_, is resident in Spain throughout the
year, while the closely allied and almost identical _L. excubitor_
breeds exclusively in the far north (chiefly within the Arctic) and only
descends to England in winter. Besides the harsh note mentioned above,
the southern shrike, in spring, utters a piping whistle not unlike a
golden plover.
[13] This is only the second instance in thirty or forty years of a
wounded or "bayed" stag killing a dog. In the Culata del Faro, we
remember, many years ago, a stag shot through the lungs, and which was
brought to bay close behind the writer's post, tossing a _podenco_ clean
over its head, and so injuring it that the dog had to be destroyed at
once.
[14] The initials are those of our late friend Colonel Brymer of
Ilsington, Dorset, formerly M.P. for that county, and who was a frequent
visitor to Spain, where, alas! his death occurred while we write this
chapter (May 1909). A unique exploit of the Colonel's during his last
shooting-trip may fitly be recorded. On February 5, 1909, at the Culata
del Faginado, four big stags broke in a clump past his post on a
pine-crowned ridge in the forest. Two he dropped right and left; then
reloading one barrel, killed a third ere the survivors had vanished from
sight. These three stags carried thirty-four points, the best head
taping 30-1/2 inches by 27 inches in width, and 4-1/2 inches basal
circumference.
[15] Not a single accident, great or small, has occurred during the
authors' long tenure of the Coto Doñana.
[16] See _On Safari_, by Abel Chapman, pp. 216-17. The Spanish term
_Ronda_ may roughly be translated as "rounding-up."
[17] At the date in question (end of November) it is, of course,
possible that this immigration was proceeding, not from the north, but
from the south. That is, that these were fowl which, on their first
arrival in Spain in September and October, had found the _marisma_
untenable from lack of water, and had in consequence passed on into
Africa, whence they were now returning, on the changed weather. But be
that as it may, the route above indicated is that invariably followed by
the north-bred wildfowl on their first arrival in Spain.
[18] This was in earlier days. Later on we developed a flotilla of
flat-bottomed canoes expressly adapted to this service. A photo of one
of these is annexed.
[19] See _Instructions to Young Sportsmen_, by P. Hawker, second edition
(1816), pp. 229, 230.
[20] In the big and deep lucios no plant-life exists, nor could
surface-feeding ducks reach down to it even if subaquatic herbage of any
kind did grow there.
[21] We have here in our mind's eye our own shooting-grounds in the
Bætican marismas. But there are other regions in Andalucia where geese
feed on open grassy plains on which shelter of some sort is often
available. It may be but a clump of dead thistles or wild asparagus; but
at happy times a friendly ditch or dry watercourse will yield quite a
decent hollow where one can hide in comparative comfort and security. On
the day here described no such "advantage" befriended.
[22] The scarcity of diving-ducks is explained by these having all been
shot in the shallow, open marisma. In the deeper waters, such as
Santolalla, common and white-eyed pochards, tufted ducks, etc., abound.
[23] The Montes de Toledo comprise some of the best big-game country in
Spain and include several of her most famous preserves; such, for
example, as the Coto de Cabañeros belonging to the Conde de
Valdelagrana, El Castillo, a domain of the Duke of Castillejos, and
Zumajo of the Marques de Alventos. The Duke of Arión possesses a wild
tract inhabited by fallow-deer.
[24] Thirteen wolves were killed thus (and recovered) on the property of
the Marquis del Mérito in the winter of 1906-7.
[25] Similarly the half-wild cattle of Spain leave their new-born calves
concealed in some bush or palmetto, the mother going off for a whole day
and only returning at sunset.
[26] Photos given in _Wild Spain_.
[27] We exclude from consideration all deer that are winter-fed or
otherwise assisted, and of course all that have been "improved" by
crosses with extraneous blood. These mountain deer of Spain are true
native aborigines, unaltered and living the same wild life as they lived
here in Roman days and in ages before.
[28] We here use the term hound or dog indiscriminately as, in the
altering circumstances, each is equally applicable and correct
[29] I never myself count shots, hits or misses--_horas non numero_. The
above record is solely due to the inception by our gracious hostess at
Mezquitillas of a pretty custom, namely, that for every bullet fired, a
small sum should be payable by the sportsman towards a local charity.
[30] The oleander is poisonous to horses and other domestic animals, and
is instinctively avoided by both game and cattle. During the Peninsular
War it is recorded that several British soldiers came by their deaths
through this cause. A foraging party cut and peeled some oleander
branches to use as skewers in roasting meat over the camp-fires. Of
twelve men who ate the meat, seven died.
[31] Pernales was born at Estepa, province of Sevilla, September 3,
1878, a ne'er-do-weel son of honest, rural parents. By 1906 he had
become notorious as a determined criminal. His appearance and
Machiavellian instincts were interpreted as indicating great personal
courage, and, united with his physique, combined to present a repulsive
and menacing figure. A huge head set on broad chest and shoulders, with
red hair and deep-set blue eyes, a livid freckled complexion, thin
eyebrows, and one long tusk always visible, protruding from a horrid
mouth, made up a sufficiently characteristic ensemble.
[32] The authors personally assisted at this _toilet_, Talavera, May
1891.
[33] The oft-described details of the bull-fight we omit; but should any
reader care to peruse an impartial description thereof, written by one
of the co-authors of the present work, such will be found in the
_Encyclopædia of Sport_, vol. i. p. 151.
[34] In particular, remembering an incident that had occurred here in
1891, and recorded in _Wild Spain_, p. 147, we were anxious to ascertain
if the lemming, or any relative of his, still survived in these central
Spanish cordilleras. The marmot is another possible inhabitant.
[35] For these, as well as graphic notes on the subject, we are indebted
to Sr. D. Manuel F. de Amezúa, the most experienced and intrepid
explorer of the Sierra de Grédos.
[36] This range is, in fact, a northern outspur of the Montes de Toledo,
which occupy the whole space betwixt Tagus and Guadiana. Its highest
peak, La Cabeza del Moro, reaches 5110 feet.
[37] Wild fallow-deer are indigenous among the infinite scrub-clad hills
that fringe the course of the Tagus, as well as in various _dehesas_ in
the province of Caceres--those of Las Corchuelas and de Valero may be
specified. The wild fallow are larger and finer animals than the others.
[38] Immediately adjoining the south approach to the bridge over the
Alagón is sculptured on the bluff a heraldic device representing a
figure plucking a pomegranate (_Granada_) from a tree--the arms of
Granadilla. There is an inscription, with date, beneath; but these we
failed to decipher.
[39] _Diccionario geografico, estadistico, y historico de España_, by
Pascual Madoz (Madrid, 1845).
[40] A later Spanish work, the _Diccionario enciclopedico
hispano-americano_ (Barcelona, 1892), regards some of Pascual Madoz's
descriptions as over-coloured and exaggerated. Our own observation,
however, rather tended to confirm his views and to show that subsequent
amelioration exists rather in name than in fact.
[41] The Hurdanos, we were told, make bad soldiers. Being despised by
their comrades, they are only employed on the menial work of the
barracks. Many, from long desuetude, are unable to wear boots.
[42] The white on a bustard's plumage exceeds in its intensity that of
almost any other bird we know. It is a dead white, without shade or the
least symptom of any second tint so usual a feature in white.
[43] _Avetarda_ is old Spanish, the modern spelling being _Abutarda_.
[44] A large number of horsemen inevitably excites suspicion in game
unaccustomed to see more than three or four men together.
[45] The horses, if ground permits, may be utilised as "stops" to
extreme right and left of the drive, otherwise they must be concealed in
some convenient hollow in charge of a boy or two.
[46] We know of no other bird that increases thus in weight anticipatory
of the breeding-season, nor are we at all sure that it is the swollen
neck that explains that increase.
[47] We have never succeeded in inducing our tame bustards to breed in
captivity.
[48] Dampier, _New Voyage round the World_, 2nd ed., i. p. 71; London,
1699.
[49] Dampier's visit to the Cape de Verde Islands took place in
September, when, of course, flamingoes would not be nesting.
[50] We also observed in Equatoria a second species, smaller and red all
over, _Phoenicopterus minor_. This, however, was far less numerous; the
great bulk of East-African flamingoes were the common _Ph. roseus_.
[51] It is right to add that in America the growth of mangrove and other
bushes, sometimes in close proximity to the nests, offers facilities to
the photographer that are wholly wanting in Spain, where the flamingo
only nests in perfectly open waters devoid of the slightest covert or
means of concealment.
[52] _Gaitero_ is the word used. The _gaita_ is a musical instrument
which we may translate as bagpipes.
[53] For notes on these subjects, we are indebted to Mr. Carl D.
Williams.
[54] Boabdil, we read, was a keen hunter, and during his sojourn at
Besmer frequently spent weeks at a time among the mountains with his
hawks and hounds.
[55] _La Alpujarra_, by Don Pedro A. de Alarcón (4th edition, Madrid,
1903).
[56] Several of these animals, moreover, yield excellent fur.
[57] These mountains are believed to overlie vast store of subterranean
wealth in the form of petroleum. Geologists seem agreed upon that; but
they differ as to the precise locality of the treasure or whence it may
most conveniently be exploited.
[58] We have a number of pinsápos growing in Northumberland. They were
planted some ten years ago on a cold northern exposure, and are now
flourishing vigorously, some having reached a height of eight or ten
feet. Nearly all tend to throw up numerous "leaders" as described.
[59] Pinsápo timber is fairly hard, but too "knotty" for general
purposes, and it is useless for charcoal. Yet these glorious forests are
being sacrificed wholesale because the wood affords "good kindling" for
the charcoal-furnace--can wasteful wantonness further go? That the only
existing forests of the kind on earth should be ruthlessly destroyed for
no single object but to provide _kindling_ passes understanding.
[60] We mention, parenthetically, certain birds observed at end of March
on that alpine meadow (4800 feet), as follows:--One ring-ouzel, a pair
of common wheatears, woodlarks, and Dartford warblers--all, no doubt, on
migration--besides, of course, blackchats, blue thrushes, etc. A month
later the beautiful rock-thrush had come to grace the desolation with
lilting flight and song, and tawny pipits ran blithely among the rocks.
[61] Note that the pellets or "castings" thrown up by vultures are
chiefly formed of grass cut up into lengths and compacted with saliva,
evidently digestive. We have frequently seen vultures carrying a wisp of
grass in their beaks.
[62] The Spanish name of the ibex, _Cabra montés_, signifies, not as
might appear, "mountain-goat," but _scrub-goat_; and may have originated
in this region, or at least from a habit which prevails here though
obsolete everywhere else.
[63] Similar results followed on the Laguna de Janda. That great shallow
lake abounds in winter with both ducks and geese; but differs from the
marismas in being sweet water, hence is not frequented by flamingoes.
Another point of difference is that its shores are occupied by wild
bulls instead of brood-mares; hence the _cabresto_-pony is not
available. Wildfowl here also proved inaccessible to a gunning-punt on
open waters; while wherever reeds or sedge promised some "advantage," in
such places the depth of water was always insufficient to float the
lightest of craft within range. The best shot made during four seasons
realised but twenty-three (seven geese and sixteen duck)--a paltry
total. Occasionally a great bustard was shot from the gunboat.
[64] The word "_Corro_" applies in Spanish to any noisy group--say a
knot of people discussing politics in the street!
[65] One feels convinced, while lying listening, that these exuberant
fowl invent and formulate a series of new notes and cries special to the
occasion and outside their normal vocabulary. Hence, possibly,
originated the use of the term "_Corro_."
[66] _Corros_ usually consist (especially the earlier assemblies) of one
root-species--others merely "edge in." The later _corros_, however, are
much mixed. They vary in numbers: one may contain but 200 pairs, another
within half-a-mile as many thousands.
[67] Pratincoles cast themselves down flat on the dry mud, fluttering as
though in mortal agony--or, say, like a huge butterfly with a pin
through its thorax! The device is presumably adopted in order to decoy
an intruder away from their eggs or young. This year, however, the
pratincoles still practised it, although they had neither eggs nor young
at all. One day (May 12) a gale of wind blew some of the deceivers
bodily away.
[68] In none were the generative organs more than slightly developed,
and in most the plumage was full of new blood-feathers, showing that the
summer change was not yet complete. The date, May 10-15. Another drawing
is given at p. 42.
[69] Common British birds we exclude from notice, or might fill a page
with swarming goldfinches, robins, wrens, chaffinch, blackbird,
stonechat, whitethroats, tree-pipits, titlarks (the last three on
passage), blackcap, garden-warbler, whinchat, redstart, and a host more.
[70] The African bush-cuckoos, or coucals (_Centropus_), certainly build
their own nests; but they are only related nominally, and the connection
is remote.
[71] In Egypt the hooded crow (_Corvus cornix_) is invariably the
cuckoo's dupe; in Algeria, _Pica mauretanica_.
[72] We find a note that one Bean-Goose was shot on November 27,
1896--weight 5-1/4 lbs.
[73] See the elaborate monograph on _The Geese of Europe and Asia_, by
M. Serge Alphéraky of St. Petersburg (London, Rowland Ward).
[74] One such note may be given as an example:--
"1903.--Examined 40 geese shot January 1 and 2. Legs varied from white
and pale flesh-colour to pale yellowish and pink, adults all of the
latter colour. Beaks vary from whitish or flesh-colour, through yellow,
up to bright orange. A few of the geese, mostly the smaller, young
birds, were nearly pure white below: others heavily spotted or barred
with black: nearly all (old and young) show signs of a 'white-front.'"
[75] In Jutland we found some pintails' nests rather cunningly concealed
in holes upon open grassy islets in marine lagoons not unlike our
Spanish marismas; others were on bare ground, though occasionally hidden
among thistles. Here also the eggs numbered eight or nine. See _Ibis_,
1894, p. 349.
* * * * *
Typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber:
averge depth=> average depth {pg 302}
produces these montrosities=> produces these monstrosities {pg 348}
secured a specimen of two=> secured a specimen or two {pg 360}
are always strictly cleanly=> are always strictly clean {pg 368}
Préjavelsky, Russian explorer, 276=> Préjavalsky, Russian explorer, 276
{index}