Lord Lilford on the Ornithology of Spain. 179 



in full songj and I heard many AVrynecks, Jynx torquilla. We 

 obtained two eggs of Oxylophus glandarius from a nest of the 

 Common Magpie, in a high oak, and these were the only eggs 

 in the nest. 



At length, on April 15th, I received the long-hoped-for per- 

 mission to visit the Sitios Reales with a gun, and at the same 

 time leave for Manuel to accompany me in my expedition. 

 After one or two more visits to the Casa de Campo, on which 

 occasions I added several Spotted Cuckoos, Spanish Magpies, 

 and a few other species to my collection, we made an expedition 

 to El Pardo, a crown-pi'operty at about seven miles from 

 Madrid, consisting of a small village, a palace, and barracks, 

 with an enclosed park some eighteen leagues in circumfer- 

 ence. This park is in some places thickly wooded with ilex, 

 cork, and the like, and is full of game of different kinds — deer, 

 wild boars, rabbits, and partridges. In the winter, Woodcocks 

 are said to be very abundant in the dense jungle of bramble, 

 thoi'ii, and tamarisk on the banks of the Manzanares, which, 

 rising in the Sierra de Guadarrama, runs from north-west to 

 south-east through the whole extent of this domain. Here we 

 stayed for two days, but were prevented by continued rain from 

 doing much. We spent hours in pursuit of Potamodus cettii, 

 but only succeeded in securing two specimens of this provoking 

 but charming warbler. The song somewhat resembles that of 

 a Nightingale, but is louder and more thrilling, and generally 

 ends abruptly just when one expects the best part of the per- 

 formance to follow. We searched in vain for the nest of this 

 species. Three or four Vultures were almost always in sight. 

 Bee-eaters were arriving in myriads, and skimming over the 

 country in every direction, high and low ; and Spanish Magpies 

 were shrieking and chattering from almost every clump of trees. 

 We recognized a fine Golden Eagle, Aquila chrysaetus, winging 

 his way towards the mountains. Both species of Kite, Milvus 

 ictinus and M. migrans, soared about the village on the look-out 

 for an unwary chicken; and as evening came on, the cries of three 

 species of Owl, Strix flammea, Athene noctua, and Scops giu, 

 helped to make night hideous or beautiful, according to the 

 fancy of the hearer. These three species are common, and the 



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