VILAFLOR 75 



out of the way of the Hzards, which are very numerous 

 in Tenerife. The peasants call this bird Hortiero, 

 meaning Oven-bird, on account of the shape of the 

 nest, which is domed, as in England, with an entrance 

 at the side. 



Another bird that found its way up to Vilaflor was 

 the Hoopoe, though there were but few of them at 

 this altitude. In Tenerife, as in Fuerteventura, these 

 birds often nest in the crevices of the rough stone 

 walls, but they are shy of disclosing the whereabouts of 

 their nesting-site, and if they think they are observed, 

 will show at times a remarkable amount of patience. 

 Settling on the bough of a fig tree, the bird looks very 

 much on the alert, erecting its crest, and being evidently 

 suspicious of danger ; then, having satisfied itself that 

 there is cause for alarm, it settles down, either along 

 or across the bough, flattens down its crest, and waits. 

 After a while it flies off to another tree, and then 

 both birds may be seen showing off to each other, with 

 their crests up, or one of them may chase a butterfly, 

 hovering for a moment in the air before finally 

 catching it. 



One day during our stay at Vilaflor we found our- 

 selves in the vicinity of the Raven's nest, at least 

 there was a rather dilapidated nest placed in a cleft of 

 rock at a height of fifty feet or so from the ground, and 

 quite inaccessible except by means of a rope. On the 

 other side of a gorge, though, which ran beneath this 

 crag stood a rock, from which we could see across 

 almost to the level of the nest. One Cuervo sat on 

 a tree some distance away, the other on a big pine 

 which overhung the nest. This bird did not appear 



