402 Mr. H. Saunders on the Ornithologij uf Italy and Spain. 



wards to Madrid. Here I found Manuel with a splendid series 

 of eggs of Cinereous Vulture ; and as he informed me that he 

 had robbed every nest he knew of, it was useless to go up into 

 the Guadarrama this year. He had also taken a nest of Dipper, 

 which he considered a great rarity ; but, unfortunately, he had 

 not secured the bird, so I am unable to say whether it is Cinclus 

 aquaticus or C. melanog aster. I expect some skins in a few 

 weeks from the province of Santander. 



During this visit I have quite convinced myself of the exis- 

 tence oi Aquila navioides in Spain*, having examined various 

 stuffed specimens ; and in the Due de Montpensier's gardens at 

 Seville there is a magnificent live bird of this species, taken last 

 year from the nest in the woods near Cordova. I was also in- 

 formed that it came from a brood of four — an assertion I then 

 doubted; but after the example already furnished by the Impe- 

 rial Eagle, it may be true. My informant added that this species 

 often netted on scrub and tussocks, but a few feet from the 

 ground, after the manner of the Harriers; and considering 

 its affinities with A. ncBvia, and Mr. Hudleston's experience 

 of that bird's breeding-places in the Dobi"udscha (Ibis, 1861, 

 p. 368), this is not improbable. In the Madrid Museum is a 

 fine series of this bird ; but although Manuel knew it, yet I 

 could not learn that he had ever found it breeding, and I my- 

 self have never been able to recognize it in a wild state. 



As I am now preparing a list of the birds of Southern Spain, 

 any further remarks would probably result in useless repetition; 

 but before closing this notice I would draw attention to the 

 abundance of birds in that country as compared with Italy ; and 

 I refer not merely to abundance of species but of individuals. 

 It would be manifestly unfair to mention the spring and sum- 

 mer visitors to the former, as I have not passed those seasons 

 in Italy; but compare the market of Rome, by far the richest in 

 Italy, with that of Seville, and the deficiency in the former is 

 most striking — all the more so because everything is considered 

 caccia by the Italians, and consequently all sorts of uneatable 

 birds come into the market, whereas the Spaniard, who is a 



* [See the statements of Mr. Sclater (Ibis, 1863, p. 352 ; 1865, p. 369) 

 and Lord Lilford (torn. cit. p. 172). — Ed.] 



