82 Mr. A. Chapman's Rough Notes 



short sharp bark is repeatedly uttered while hunting. Rabbits 

 seem to constitute nine tenths of their prey, to judge from 

 the Golgotha of these little animals' skulls below the nests. 

 I also saw a Partridge brought thither, and remains of a 

 Stone-Curlew and other birds. 



In the beautiful gardens of El Palacio at Jerez, the Gold- 

 finches already (April 29th) have young ; so, too, have the 

 Common Sparrow, and several broods of Blackbirds are 

 already flown from their nests in the orange-trees. The 

 Nightingales' nests were only about half built, and no eggs 

 were laid till 8th May. Many of their nests were in ivy 

 growing on walls, and placed four or five feet from the 

 ground. Their eggs varied from light olive-green to dark 

 bronze. The Willow-Wren family have now entirely dis- 

 appeared from the garden. 



On April 23rd, 1872, I found near Jerez an egg of the 

 Cuckoo {Cuculus canorus) in a nest of the Stonechat, together 

 with four eggs of the latter bird. A good many Cuckoos 

 remain to breed in Andalucia, and this year I heard thera 

 often up to the end of May. 



April 30th. At the pine-woods of Puerto Real to-day I found 

 two nests of the Raven {Corvus corax), built on pines close 

 together. One was lined with sheeps' wool, ready for eggs ; 

 the other with rabbit-fur, and contained five fresh eggs. 

 This date is fully seven weeks later than the time of laying in 

 Northumberland. I shot to-day thefirst Russet-necked Night- 

 jar (C«pn/?2MA/?<5 rufcoUis) seen this year. Melodious Willow- 

 Warblers were observed in the sedges along the river-banks; and 

 another conspicuous arrival was the handsome Rufous Warbler 

 {A'edon galactodes) , frequenting abundantly the hedges of 

 cactus and prickly pear, in which I found a clutch of four 

 eggs on 14th May. Of our common birds I have noted to-day 

 Greenfinches and Lmnets [Linota cannabina) . Walking back 

 to Jerez, a very wet afternoon, 18 miles, a congregation of 

 many thousands of Swallows were sitting on the dry mud 

 along the edge of the marisma. 



Early in May 1 returned to the Guadalquivir district, 

 equipped for a fortnight's sojourn in the wilds of the Goto de 



