158 A Day in the Cork Woods 
these delicate shrubs offer small resistance to either man or beast 
who may wish to penetrate them; hence, on several occasions, I 
have known of nests of Bonelli’s Warbler which have been 
destroyed by passing cattle as they forced their way through the 
undergrowth in search of pasture. 
In the closer-growing bushes along the edge of the streams a 
beautiful little Warbler, one of the Melodious Willow Warbler group, 
known as //yfolais polyglotta, from its rich and varied song, also 
nests. A widely distributed species is the Western Orphean 
Warbler (Sylva orphea), which builds a cup-shaped nest on the 
branches of the smaller cork trees about 8 to 10 ft. above the 
ground, and lays eggs closely resembling those of our Garden 
Warbler. Needless to say that in Andalucia, from the first week in 
April and onward, the voice of the Nightingale is heard from every 
clump of brambles or jungle-covered marsh. All the nests I have 
come across have been invariably placed in bushes some little 
height above the ground and not on the ground as in England. 
Probably here again the birds endeavour by such means to avoid 
the predatory reptiles which are so abundant. 
One of the most frequently seen among the spring arrivals is 
the bright-coloured Western Rufous Warbler (4édon galactodes). 
They are particularly partial to the big aloe hedges which at 
many places skirt the patches of cultivation and by their lively 
actions and conspicuous plumage attract the eye far more than 
do any of the other Warblers. In many ways they resemble the 
Nightingale, but are larger and far brighter coloured and, as they 
flit from bush to bush, erect and expand their tails, which are 
rufous in the centre and have the outer feathers white, barred 
with black at the end. This peculiar habit induced Colonel Irby 
to style these birds the ‘ Cock-tail Warbler” and a very descrip- 
tive name it is. 
The Common Blackbird swarms in southern Spain, and nests 
