186 Lord Lilford on the Ornithologij of Spain. 



brought dowu the eggs, which were certainly unlike those of 

 any Kite that I had ever seen. Manuel assured me that he had 

 no doubt whatever as to their being the eggs oi A. pennata ; but 

 to make sure, we waited quietly for the return of the parent 

 bird. She did not keep us long in suspense ; but, after soaring 

 far out of shot for some minutes, enabling us fully to identify 

 her species, she dropped perpendicularly on to her empty nest, 

 rendering it impossible to obtain a shot. The nest indeed was 

 quite as far as ManueVs gun would carry ; and though on the 

 Eagle leaving it a second time he fired and declared that she 

 was a dead bird, I must confess that I believe, for all the harm 

 he did to her, she may be, whilst I write, preparing for another 

 attempt at establishing her family in New Castile. The Black 

 Kite's nest contained three eggs, and in its foundations were 

 three nests of the Spanish Sparrow. I may here mention that • 

 in almost every nest of the two species of Kite, Milvus ictinus 

 and M. migrans^ which we found in Spain, were one or more 

 nests of this Sparrow, besides, in most instances, a large colony 

 in the immediate vicinity. We found several nests of the Serin, 

 Seriniis hortulanus, in the clipped hedges, the odoriferous esta- 

 blishment of a Hoopoe in a hollow elm, and nests of the Com- 

 mon Wren, Troglodytes parvulus, Blackbird, and Nightingale in 

 various parts of the garden. Whilst sitting with some of the 

 gardeners discussing our exploits over a cigarette, a very large 

 flock of Bonelli's Eagle passed over to the southwards high in 

 air; there was no possibility of mistaking the species, the very 

 peculiar shape of the tail, which I have before noticed*, and 

 the tawny-red breasts of the immature birds at once serving to 

 distinguish them. Manuel told me that he had several times 

 previously seen large flights of this species high in air as if on 

 migration; but as this Eagle is well known as a permanent 

 resident in Spain, it is difficult to account for these large assem- 

 blages, more particularly at this season of the year. With one 

 exception, I never before saw such a congregation of raptorial 

 birds, and should be glad to know if such an occurrence has 

 come under the observation of any of my readers. 



On the following day we went out to a small lake on the road 

 to Ocafia, known as El Mar de Aranjuez. In the tamarisk- 

 * Ibis, 1860, p. 5. 



