84 071 the Birds of the Central Pyrenees. 



Pyrenees^ there can be no reasonable doubt, but in the ex- 

 treme Eastern Pyrenees there is another large Falcon. 



7Q. Falco tinnunculus, Linn. 



I saw Kestrels, apparently breeding, at the chateau at 

 Pau, others in the canon on the way to Eaux-Chaudes, others 

 at Argeles and on the Spanish side in Valle de Ara. The 

 species seemed generally distributed, but not common, i. e. 

 I should have seen five times as many in the same time spent 

 in the open air in Berkshire, and literally a hundred times 

 the number on the heathery ridges near Gibraltar, where 

 Kestrels are as common as the Sky-Lark is in England. Why 

 Kestrels do not abound in the Pyrenees I cannot imagine, 

 the supply of dor-beetles^ gi'asshoppers, small snakes, and 

 lizards is inexhaustible, and nesting-ledges are abundant 

 enough in all conscience, but the fact remains that one can 

 walk for days without seeing a Hawk of any kind. 



1 do not consider that this brief list comprises all the species 

 of Raptors one might reasonably expect to see during a 

 passing visit to the Central Pyrenees. In the thick timber 

 of the Valle de Ara I heard the loud clucking of some large 

 bird of prey : said my guide, " That's the one that takes the 

 other birds " — information which 1 found confirmatory, but 

 insufficient. On another occasion, at the edge of the timber 

 in the Cirque de Gavarnie, I came upon the scene of a recent 

 scuffle, and the ground was strewn with tail- and wing-feathers, 

 which Dr. R. B. Sharpe identifies as those of ayoungHoney- 

 Buzzard. 



77. CoLUMBA PALUMBUs, Linn. 



A few Ring-Doves remain to breed in the pine-forest of the 

 Valle de Ara. Whilst working through thick scrub one gets 

 a momentary glimpse of grey back and banded tail, or, just 

 before the chill of sunset begins, one hears the clap of a wing, 

 a bird sails out over the tree-tops, claps again, and at the 

 summons he is joined by five or six others in a ''constitutionar^ 

 down the valley and back again. I know not what enemy 

 keeps down the natural increase of this species in a forest 



