Nesting Habits 393 
and with nothing in front of one except the fresh air and a 
magnificent view ! 
Although many, probably the great majority, of Griffons’ 
nests are placed in caverns or, in their absence, on ledges, which 
are alike difficult and dangerous to reach, this is by no means 
always the case. Every year during the course of my wanderings 
in wilder Spain do I come across nests which are easy of access, 
often without the aid of a rope or involving climbing in the crags- 
men’s sense of the word; especially in remote districts where these 
birds have not had their nests harried. But even where nests 
are placed in dangerous and difficult sites, there is sometimes 
a means of avoiding a direct attack in such places. ‘Thus 
in about half a dozen instances as already described I have 
taken advantage of “joints” or other geological formations of 
the cliffs and the existence of deep chasms and fissures near the 
summit of the tilted-up crags to penetrate from the reverse slope 
through the heart of the hill and emerge on a terrace on the face 
of the precipice, at times over a hundred feet from the top. 
It seems almost an unfair advantage to take, since the birds 
obviously do not reckon upon such tactics. All the same, on 
several occasions it has proved a most  succcessful method 
of approach, and has been of late years, since I have been 
partially disabled, of peculiar aid to me in reaching many besides 
Vultures’ nests. In such situations it frequently happens that 
some point is reached where extreme care has to be observed 
in traversing an awkward place. Once over such a spot and 
at the first nest it not uncommonly occurs that several other nests 
in the immediate vicinity can be literally walked into without any 
appreciable risk. 
Of the nest itself it is difficult to write, for few birds seem to 
hold more divergent views on the subject of the size and shape 
of their nursery than do Griffons. Hence it is that whereas one 
