74 IVIr. II. }^o\i\c— Forty -futir 



did not begin till tea days later. The lowest nest was not 

 more than five feet from the ground, and the highest about 

 thirty. Four to seven eggs is the usual clutch ; eight were 

 found once. 



Pica rustica. 



Locally common. In one district it simply swarmed, 

 breeding in low cork-trees and in bramble-bushes only a few 

 feet high ; one nest containing eggs was no higher than my 

 knee, I noticed that many of those in the thick bramble- 

 bushes were not roofed. On April 24th most nests contained 

 full complements of eggs, some of them having as many as 

 eight. 



CORVUS MONEDULA. 



Common, but local. JVlany nests in holes in the old cork- 

 trees, with fresh eggs on April 26th. 



CoRVUS CORAX. 



Common, nesting mostly in the pine-woods. It seems 

 curious that a bird which breeds so early in this country 

 should be so much later in the South *. The first full 

 clutch of fresh eggs taken was on May 1st, and consisted of 

 six; subsequently we obtained several nests with from five 

 to seven, and on May 21st there were young just hatched. 

 Ravens' nests can easily be distinguished from below from 

 Kites\ Buzzards', &c., by their much rounder and neater 

 appearance. They are also deeper, and smaller sticks are 

 used in the construction. 



Cypselus apus. 



Very common in some of the villages and still more so in 

 Seville, where it was nesting by scores under the eaves of 

 the houses on May 30th. 



Caprimulgus ruficollis. 



Common. I saw many birds, but did nut find eggs 



* Mr. Saunders tells me that he found Ravens feeding large youug 

 on March 18th, 1868, at Baza, in the Province of Granada; so it is 

 possible that those which I found were second nests ; but, if this is the 

 case, it seems curious that I never met with a young fledged Raven of 

 the vear. 



