50 The Oologists' Record, September i, 1921, 



localities. His father, I understand, was out with Lord Lilford on 

 the same ground many years before, so the thing was probably 

 born in him. 



As we rode up the narrow lanes between hedges of great cadi, 

 10 feet or more in height, the first object of interest we came to 

 was a last year's nest of the Spanish Raven, Corvus corax hispanus, 

 on a big pine from which one of the birds flew, but it was too early 

 for eggs yet. 



On entering the pine woods we saw many Black Kites, Mihns 

 migrans" migrans, and the woods resounded with their cries. We 

 also put up a Common Buzzard, Buteo huteo bufeo, and saw a last 

 year's nest near by in a pine tree. The mewing of the Black Kite 

 is quite different to that of the Buzzard. The cry of the latter 

 is a clear pee-you, while the Black Kite starts with a piercing mewing 

 whistle not unlike that of the Buzzard, but it is followed by three 

 or four tremulous or whinnying notes. Many of the Black Kites 

 were building and the ground below the trees in which the nests 

 were was littered with dropped sticks. Apparently, if they drop 

 a stick they do not pick it up but go to a distance for more. 

 Scattered about the woods also were many parties of Azure-winged 

 Magpies, Cyanopica cooki, which flew from tree to tree uttering a 

 low harsh chattering. Very few Hoopoes were seen but we saw one 

 Woodchat Shrike, Lanius rufus, perched sentinel-like on a small 

 tree and also observed one Black-throated Wheatear, Ginanthe 

 hispanica hispanica. We also heard the Nightingale and found a 

 nest of the Spanish Blackbird, Turdus meriila hispania, placed 

 0*1 a horizontal branch of an ilex, 20 feet from the ground, like a 

 Mistle Thrush's nest. This local race of Blackbird differs much, 

 in its habits from the English race and has the strange peculiarity 

 of not making a mud wall in its nest. 



On 5th April, we crossed the river by ferry boat and rode out 

 across a couple of miles of level land covered with corn and bean 

 crops, the home of the Crested Lark, Galerida cristata, until we 

 came to a belt of marsh land on which were a party of five Buff- 

 backed Herons, Ardeola ibis ibis. On the rising ground beyond 

 we found the Spanish Goldfinch, Carduelis cardtfelis africanus (?) 

 nesting in the wild olive trees but only found one egg, as the date 

 was rather early. Beyond was a low-lying cattle corral with a 

 shallow stretch of water in the centre, the pastures around which 

 were the home of the Calandra Lark, Melanocorypha calandra 



