Lord Lilford on the Ornithology of Spain. 175 



dant, and, by concealing myself and squeaking after the fashion 

 pursued by British gamekeepers for the destruction of stoats, 

 weasels, and the like, I soon gathered twenty or thirty of these 

 inquisitive and lively birds within a few yards of me. I had pre- 

 viously made acquaintance with them in Andalucia, but had not 

 had time or opportunity to watch them closely as I did upon 

 the present occasion. Their notes ai'e very varied, at one time 

 reminding one of the chatter of a flock of Starlings; now and 

 again a Jay-like screech is to be heard, and sometimes a harsh 

 chatter, somewhat like the alarm-note of the Mistletoe-Thrush. 

 The flight and actions of these birds resemble those of the com- 

 mon Magpie, Pica caudata, but they are much less shy. I was 

 assured that they did not breed till May ; nor indeed did I ex- 

 pect to find them nesting, as, on May 1st, 1864, one only out of 

 some twenty new nests which I found in the neighbourhood of 

 Cordova contained eggs. The Spanish Magpie is a very local 

 species ; the principal facts I have been able to discover as to its 

 distribution are as follows : — It is extremely abundant in the im- 

 mediate neighbourhood of Madrid, and particularly affects the 

 woods of evergreen oak. It is found more or less commonly 

 throughout New Castile, La Mancha, Estremadura, the province 

 of Leon south of Salamanca, and the portion of Andalusia to the 

 north of the great southern Sierras. In the Sierra Morena it 

 is found in myriads, and does considerable damage in the olive- 

 yards and corn-fields. North of the Guadarrama mountains in 

 Old Castile it is comparatively scarce, and, as far as I could 

 learn, is unknown in Catalonia, and extremely rare in Valencia 

 and Murcia. In Portugal, I understand that it is common in 

 the neighbourhood of Lisbon {Cf. Ibis, 1865, p. 337), but, 

 never having visited that country, I can only speak from hearsay 

 on the subject. In Andalucia and Estremadura this bird is 

 known as '' Mohino," in New Castile as " Rabilargo" and in 

 Leon as " RuipegoP 



Whilst watching the Spanish Magpies, I heard at a short 

 distance a cry which I at once concluded to be that of the com- 

 mon Buzzard, Buteo vulgaris. I advanced quietly through some 

 thick undercovert, and still heard the cry repeated, apparently 

 close to me; but the trees stood thickly together, and I could not 



