86 Mr. H. 'NoUe—Forty-fonr 



of bent rushes. I hatched one of the Crested Coot's eggs in 

 bed ; the chick is very different from that of F. atra. 



Otis tarda. 



Common. Two eggs which we found on May 7th were 

 placed on a bare spot in the middle of a large grass enclosure ; 

 there was no nest — not even a scratch. The female must 

 have run a long way from the eggs, as she rose nowhere 

 near them. On May 10th we obtained two more eggs. 

 Both sets were slightly incubated. 



Otis tetrax. 



Local, but not rare. Little Bustards are often found in 

 large grass enclosures devoted to the maturing of fighting- 

 bulls, where it is not very safe to hunt for them. On April 23rd 

 we found two nests, one with a single egg, the other with 

 an egg lying near, on which my man put his foot ! On 

 April 30th we returned, and the nest with one egg was empty, 

 whilst the nest which had been empty contained one egg. 

 I revisited the spot on May 12th, and found that both nests 

 had been trampled upon by cattle. I hunted about, and 

 eventually flushed a female ; took a cast back, and fifteen 

 yards from where she rose found a nest of five beautiful olive- 

 green eggs. I believe that this is an unusually large clutch. 

 All three nests were rather deep scratches lined with a few 

 bits of dead grass. The eggs were nearly fresh. 



CEdicnemus scolopax. 



The Thick-knee is common on the marismas. Several 

 eggs were laid on the bare ground, without any sign of a nest, 

 and often in the footprints of horses or cattle. Fresh eggs 

 were found from. May 1st to May 26th ; they are sometimes 

 laid at intervals of several days. 



Glareola pratincola. 



Abundant. It was not till May 12th that we found full 

 sets of three eggs, laid on the sun-baked marismas. In one 

 case two nests were within a few inches of each other. Pra- 

 tincoles have a curious trick of extending their wings on the 

 ground and flapping them as if wounded, the head being 



