468 ORNITHOLOGICAL SKETCHES 
on the rocks; and on the highest elevations near the Almanzor 
peak, Griffon Vultures were flying only a few yards above 
the snow-fields, and crossing the ridge from one side of the 
Sierra to the other, both in the morning and the afternoon. 
One morning I was standing on a high point of an extensive 
tract of snow, where I could overlook both the slopes of this 
lofty but narrow range. From the valleys and the ravines 
the vultures came twisting up to the crest of the mountain, 
and glided with noiseless flight over the snow of the oppo- 
site slope down to the other valleys. They followed each 
other, and there were so many of them that I soon got tired 
of counting. In the same locality one of my attendants 
found a nest of this bird in a high precipice, not far from the 
snow-line. During the middle of the day I saw the vultures 
quietly sitting in the shady places of the cliffs and rocks half- 
way up the mountain. 
In Northern Spain I found incredible numbers of Griffon 
Vultures near the celebrated Picos de Europa, in the mountains 
by Riva de Sella and Santander. In those splendid limestone 
ranges, with their picturesque forms, white summits, pleasant 
valleys, and luxuriant beech-woods, Bears, Wild Cats, Wolves, 
Chamois, Capercaille, Bearded Vultures, and many other 
stately representatives of the animal world still dwell undis- 
turbed; and those truly magnificent districts are the only 
places in all Spain which remind us northerners of the Alps 
of our own country. 
While driving from Riva de Sella through the grand 
mountain valleys to the place of pilgrimage at Cobadonga, I 
observed vultures flying about everywhere ; but as these 
valleys are wooded from the bottom up to a great height, and 
have absolutely the character of our limestone Alps, the 
Griffon Vulture only finds suitable dwelling-places in the 
highest regions above the zone of the woods. 
When I first arrived in that part of the country its appear- 
