14 LOCAL OBSERVATION 



and generally bright, sunny afternoons. I have not heard 

 of any great number of woodcocks anywhere, but it has 

 been a good autumn for visitors on the east coast. I 

 have heard of redbreasted fly-catchers, ortolans, fire-crest, 

 and several two-barred crossbills. There was a marvellous 

 invasion of common crossbills in Portugal and Andalucia 

 in September and October ; the King of Portugal told me 

 that for three days they were passing over some pine 

 woods on the coast where he was shooting, in tens of 

 thousands, and a great many appeared in the Campo de 

 Gibraltar at Seville and at Malaga, where they were 

 previously ail but unknown. There was a great catch 



of hawks at Valkenswaard,* but L tells me that all 



were small birds. A BufFon's skua f was picked up near 

 Lilford alive on November st and sent to me." ' 



"January dtk, 1891. 



" I have so far, by living upstairs in a room with double 



windows and a very big fireplace, managed to keep myself, 



a hoopoe, a Madeira blackcap, and one of the genus 



Turnix, J which ornithologists nickname the ' Andalucian 



> To E. G. B. Meade-Waldo, Esq. 



* Valkenswaard— a village in North Brabant — has long been a 

 favourite place for the capture of hawks when on passage, by means of 

 decoys and a bow-net. See article on Falconry later on in this book. 



t Bufifon's Skua (SUnorarius parasiticus). This bird belongs to 

 a group of the gulls, known (from their livelihood being largely 

 gained by pursuit and robbery of other gulls) as ' robber gulls.' 

 Buffon's is a characteristic Arctic species. 



\ The quails. 



