206 A SPRING TOUR IN PORTUGAL. 



141. *CoTURXix COMMUNIS (Bomiat.), ' Quail,' Coclorniz. 



Excessively abundant, and the markets were always glut- 

 ted with theni. Of one which I brought home Mr. Tristram 

 writes, — ' The Quail is cleaner and brighter than Enghsh, 

 but not so bright as Palestine and Algerian specimens.' 



142. fTuRNix Sylvatica (Desfont), ' Andalusian Hemipode,' 



Toir&o do mato. 

 This pretty species is by no means rare in Portugal ; 

 indeed. Professor du Bocage assured me he had often eaten it 

 like any other game, which, as an Ornithologist, he naturally 

 considered the most decisive proof of its abundance. I was 

 assured by sportsmen that it is found in wooded distiicts, and 

 not in the sandy plains assigned as its habitat by Temminck, 

 Yarrell, and others. 



143. fPxEROCLES ARENAPJUS (Pall.), ' Sand-grouse,' Cortir^ol, Bar- 



riga negra. 

 Common in the open districts. 



144. IPterocles alciiata (Linn.), ' Pin-tailed Sand-Grouse,' 



Cortupl. 

 Not so common as the last, but by no means rare. 



145. *(Jtis tarda (Linn.), ' Great Bustard,' Batarda. 



Wild Boar and Great Bustards are the lordly species of 

 game, ground and feathered, after which the more ambitious 

 Portuguese sportsmen himt ; and both are found of goodly 

 size and in tolerable abundance in certain districts, more 

 especially in the southern provinces of Alemtejo and Algarve. 

 I was fortunate in procuring a magnificent male bird in the 

 liesh, which was most liberally given me by an English 

 iriend, and whose body, after I had taken off the skin, for. 

 several days formed a large item in the bill of fare of the 

 Hotel Braganza at Lisbon ; the guests of every degree, at the 

 tahle d'hote, and in private apartments, partaking of the dish; 

 from the British Minister and liis family in the first floor to 

 the cook-boys in the area. The bird weighed 3(H lbs. 

 English, and is the finest example of the O. tarda I have 

 ever seen. After being brought down with shot, the covp 



