374 Mr. W. C. Tait on the Birds of Portugal. 



have never been able to find its nest. It is probable that 

 many arrive from the north in the late autumn, as at Leca de 

 Palmeira I have at that season seen birds which I felt sure 

 were Bitterns which had settled in the fields at the side of 

 the creek while on passage. In the winter of 1873, while 

 out Snipe-shooting, a friend and myself came upon a flock 

 of Bitterns in a marsh, and putting them up one by one, 

 as they lay close, we counted eleven, shot eight, and bagged 

 seven of them. This was done in the heat of the chase, 

 and since then I have spared any Bitterns which I might 

 put up. They are very tender birds, and a slight wound 

 with small shot brings them down. 



167. CicoNiA ALBA, Bcchst. " Cegonha." 



The White Stork is found in Portugal nearly all through 

 the year, being absent for only a short time in winter, and it 

 is one of the first arrivals, for I have seen some as early as 

 January in the neighbourhood of Abrantes. It is common 

 in the valley of the Tagus, the Upper Douro, and in the 

 Alemtejo,, but I have never seen it near Oporto. It nests in 

 church-steeples and also in large trees ; a pair is said to 

 resort to a poplar tree near Coimbra every year. 



168. CicoNiA NIGRA (Linn.). ^' Cegonha.^' 



The Black Stork is scarcer than the preceding. There is 

 a specimen in the Lisbon Museum, obtained near Evora, and 

 in the Coimbra Museum there are many from the Alemtejo, 

 where the species breeds. Dr. Hans Gadow tells us that in 

 the summer of 1885 he saw one at the gorge of the Pulo do 

 Lobo, on the Guadiana. 



169. Platalea leucorodia, Linn. " Colhereiro." 



The Spoonbill is a winter visitant to Portugal. It has 

 occasionally been shot or seen at the mouth of the Douro, 

 the small lake at Esmoriz, and on the lagoon at Aveiro. 



170. Plegadis falcinellus, Linn. " Macarico preto," 

 Esraoriz. 



The Glossy Ibis is well known at Esmoriz, where it is said 

 to arrive from the 25th of July onwards on passage. 



