214 MEDITERRANEAN NOTES 



Corta, taking the ground several times, but getting off 

 without much difficulty, and anchored about 10.30 a.m. 

 Vicente and Manuel's two sons, Miguel and Francisco, 

 appeared about midday with horses, and said that their 

 father would be here to-morrow morning. They brought 

 with them a very fine disembowelled wild cat {Felis 

 catus), which they killed a short time ago in the Coto 

 del Rey. We saw various birds new to our this year's 

 list.* We saw many geese, a few bustards and cranes. 

 Perico de Algaba turned up, and gave a most woeful 

 account of the floods of last spring at his village ; his 

 house was completely destroyed, his donkey and pig 

 drowned, many of his vicinos were in a still worse plight, 

 and many took refuge in the tower. All the wheat 

 was destroyed, and the vines and olives ruined. This 

 year there is hardly any water in the marisma. Francisco 

 went out and brought in a couple of grey lag geese,t which 

 he killed by stalking with the horse. He sat for some 

 time with us in the cabin after dinner, and I showed him 

 some of Dresser's plates of ducks, etc., of which he gave 



* " Gyps ftilvus, Neophron percnopfenis, Comis corax, ^-Ei^ialitis 

 hiaticula." 



t The Grey Lag Goose {Anser ferns) is commonly held to be the 

 chief originator of our domestic goose. It is the only wild goose 

 which nests in Britain (Scotland). Although it is said to nest very 

 occasionally in Andalucia, the birds here referred to would be winter 

 visitors. The name means (Prof. Skeat) the lagging goose, i.e., the 

 lagging-behind goose — staying to nest — when other species leave in the 

 spring. 



