Lord Lilford on the Ornithology of Spain. 391 



start (i?. j}hoenicura) more than that of R. tithys ; and he was 

 very noisy about daybreak and sunset. These were the only 

 birds of this race that I met with, though R. tithys was very 

 abundant amongst the rocks at some distance from the village. 



VYe remained at San Ildefonso till June 15th, making a few 

 more expeditions up into the Sierra, where we found several 

 more nests of Vultur monachus (each containing a single young 

 bird), some more nests of Aquila pennata with eggs, and ob- 

 tained on one occasion a fine specimen of Gyps fulvus, as before 

 mentioned. I was surprised to find the common Hedge- 

 Sparrow {Accento?- modularis) in great abundance high up on 

 the mountains, haunting and breeding amongst the scrub which 

 crops up amongst the detritus and scattered boulders below the 

 crags, in just the sort of locality I should have expected to find 

 A. alpinus, with which species, however, I did not here meet. 

 The Rock-Thrush {Petrocincla saxatilis), the Rock-Swallows 

 {Hirundo rMjses^m) , and the Wall-Creeper {Tichodroma muraria) 

 were common amongst the peaks of the Sierra, and I on several 

 occasions noticed the Alpine Swift [Cypselus melba). We often 

 saw a pair of Lanmiergeyers {Gypaetus barhatus), but never 

 could manage to secure a specimen. A woodcutter met us one 

 day in the forest swinging a young Golden Eagle in one hand, 

 whilst the other grasped an egg from the same nest. He had 

 just taken them, and took us to the spot; the nest was built in 

 the top of a low pine, at not more than twelve or fourteen feet 

 from the ground, in a craggy and thickly-grown part of the 

 forest, at about a mile from the village. Manuel was at the 

 place before daybreak the next morning, and came in a few 

 hours after with the female bird, which he had shot as she 

 came sailing to the nest with a Partridge in her talons. The 

 boys brought in several eggs of Budijtes flava, and one nest with 

 eggs and bird of Motacilla sulphurea, as well as some eggs of 

 Cyanopica cooki, Scops giu, Ruticilla tithys, and others of no 

 particular interest. 



Here ended my ornithological researches in Spain. I regret 

 that, not having yet visited the country during the winter 

 months, I am unable to give any very precise information, fi*om 

 personal observation, as to the waders and swimming-birds of 



2 D 2 



