Lord Lilford on the Ornithologij of Spain. 181 



of opinion that the common Falcon of the southern provinces is 

 Falco barbarus. 



We left Madrid for Aranjuez on the evening of the J24th 

 April, by the Great Southern Railway, and took up our quarters 

 at the Fonda de los Ynfantes, which hostelry I can safely re- 

 commend to any one visiting this summer retreat of Spanish 

 royalty. On the following morning, after having paid a visit 

 to the " Administrador," i. e. manager of the royal domain, for 

 the purpose of obtaining his visa to my shooting-licence, we 

 sallied out to commence our bird-nesting campaign. Aran- 

 juez is a small village situated in the valley of the Tagus, near 

 the confluence of the Jarania with that river, the country 

 around it being, from the abundance of water and consequent 

 fertility of its soil, the principal market-garden of the sun- 

 scorched and wind-blown capital. Magnificent avenues of elm, 

 plane, and oak extend along the roads in all directions ; and the 

 green meadows and groves of deciduous trees of the royal 

 patrimonio, as it is termed, form a most agreeable contrast to 

 the sombre olive-yards and the almost unvarying arid and 

 tawny plains so characteristic of the central provinces of Spain ; 

 in fact the crown-property of Aranjuez may with justice be 

 called an oasis in the desert ; and though its sanitary reputation 

 is not high during the summer months, it is the favoured abode 

 of the Queen and Court, till the heats of July drive them to 

 the pine-forests and snows of San Ildefonso. The patrimonio 

 is of great extent, and is one of the most valuable of the many 

 private estates of the Spanish crown. Of course, in such a 

 thirsty country as Spain, we may take it for granted that where 

 there is water there will be birds ; and Manuel had given me 

 glowing accounts of the great number and variety of birds of 

 prey which breed here, and the abundance of wildfowl. Wood- 

 cocks, and Snipes to be met with during the winter in the 

 sotos, or low-lying plains. We crossed the Tagus by a bridge 

 just above the palace-gardens; and, stopping awhile to look at 

 the camels which are used to carry gravel, weeds, and the like 

 to and from the gardens, we strolled along under a glorious 

 overarching avenue of planes and oaks on the Madrid road, and 

 investigated many a likely-looking hole for nests, without sue- 



