34 



BIRD-HUNTING 



After the Alpine rope had been securely knotted 

 round my chest, my three companions, bracing 

 themselves firmly one above the other, lowered me 

 over the edge until I stood upright in the nest. 

 Holding up the egg to show to the goatherds who 

 had remained below, I gave the signal to the men 

 above, and was quickly hauled up with the egg safe 

 in my pocket. It was very long and pointed, a 

 dirty white with rusty-coloured stains, and proved 

 to be addled. This was fortunate, however, for us ; 

 for, had things gone well with it, there should by 

 this date (April 20) have been a half-grown Eaglet 

 in the nest. 1 



While eating- our lunch under some small trees 

 near the foot of this crag we found that a Goldfinch 

 was quietly sitting on her nest just over our heads. 

 There was another nest in a neighbouring tree. 

 The Gilguero is exceedingly common throughout 

 Spain, perhaps on account of the abundance of its 

 favourite food, the thistle. Later we discovered 

 numbers of them nesting in orange-trees. These 

 Spanish Goldfinches are small, but very brightly 

 coloured. 



After this we proceeded towards the coast in 

 search of the nest of a Golden Eagle, Aquila real, 

 as the Spaniards call it, of which we had tidings 



1 In the following year a friend found in this same nest a young 

 Golden Eagle in the middle of April. 



