176 Lord Lilford on the Ornithology of Spain. 



for a considerable time discover the bird from which it came. I, 

 expecting to see the Buzzard circUng in the air above my head, 

 did not examine the trees closely, until at length I was certain 

 that the bird was in a thick ilex within a few yards, and at length 

 discovered that my Buzzard was nothing but a Jay. I never 

 heard this imitation of the Buzzard in any country except Spain; 

 but there it is one of the most frequent of the Jay's many notes, 

 and so exact a copy as at first to deceive the most experienced 

 ears. The Jay, Garrulus ylandarius (in Spanish " Arrendajo ") , 

 appears to be common in most parts of Spain. During my 

 ramble on this occasion in the grounds of the Casa de Campo, I 

 suddenly came face to face with a Scops-Owl, Scops giu, which 

 was sitting tightly drawn up against the trunk of an elm about 

 five feet from the ground. We contemplated each other, no 

 doubt with mutual admiration, for some minutes, till the Owl, 

 after bowing politely several times, retired to a thick ilex at some 

 distance, where I left him. This species w^as then beginning to 

 make its appearance in Castile; a fortnight later it was very 

 abundant, and its melancholy call, " keeyou," " keeyou," to be 

 heard throughout the night, and often during the day, in all 

 parts of the country. 



The common Green Woodpecker, Gecinus viridis, is very 

 abundant about the Casa de Campo ; and on this occasion I also 

 noticed one pair of the Grey-headed Green Woodpecker, Gecinus 

 canus, which is, as far as I have been able to ascertain, by no 

 means common in Spain. I certainly never again recognized it 

 during my stay in the Castiles. The Green Woodpecker is 

 known in Spain by the name of " Pita real," and appears to be 

 generally distributed throughout the country. The Hoopoe, 

 Upupa epops (in Spanish " Abubilla") , was just arriving from its 

 winter-quarters in the south, and to be seen in pairs strutting 

 about the sandy paths in the upper part of these grounds. I 

 noticed a few of our British Pied Flycatchers, Muscicapa atrica- 

 pilla, and great numbers of Goldfinches, Carduelis elegans, and 

 Serins, Serinus hortulanus. Red-legged Partridges, Caccabis 

 rufa, constantly rose before me in pairs, and their cackling call- 

 note resounded on all sides, while great numbers of Woodpigeons 

 haunted the ilex-groves. These last birds were still in flocks. 



