82 Mr. 11. Noble— Fo;7//-yVywr 



Plegadis falcinkllus. 



Glossy Ibises were rather rare : we only met with them 

 once, when three pairs had nests among those of the small 

 Herons. These were placed in bushes six feet from the water ; 

 they are deeper and many rushes are used in their con- 

 struction. Ibises seem to be irregular in their time of 

 breeding, for last season many nests were found with fresh 

 eggs in June, while ours contained three or four eggs on 

 April 27th. 



Anas boscas. 



Common everywhere, in spite of tlie wretched females 

 being shot on their nests on every o})portunity by the 

 Spaniards. Fresh eggs were found April J29th ; the first 

 young on May 8th. 



Chaulelasmus streperus. 



The Gadwall was common ; we found a nest on April 28th, 

 with ten fresh eggs, in a clump of spear-rush twenty yards 

 from the edge of a lake, and saw several other eggs taken by 

 the '^ egg-eaters.'" 



Marmaronetta angustikostris. 



I was lucky to hit upon a good season for Marbled Teal, 

 for they are often absent from Spain for several years in 

 succession, while at other times they appear in numbers. We 

 found them very common, both on the marisma and on the 

 river. They are confiding, and it is easy to obtain specimens, 

 as they often allow a boat to approach within gun-shot, and 

 even if they rise wildly they fly straight back. Their flight 

 is swift, and they can turn with rapidity. A nest was found 

 on May 14th in a clump of rushes close to a laguna, with 

 eleven fresh eggs and a little down ; another some distance 

 from the water and close to the side of a fence-post, on 

 May 18th, contained the large number of fifteen eggs. It was 

 a slight hollow in high grass, lined with down and feathers. 



QUERQUEDULA CRECCA, 



On May 23rd I flushed a small Duck from a dry spot on 

 Lucio Ileal, which I thought was a Teal ; there was no nest, 

 but a slight hollow had been scratched out under a thistle. 



