70 Mr. H. Saunders 07i the 



on the way : Finches were numerous in the few places in the 

 gorges where there was a little water ; Pied Flycatchers were 

 frequent among the olive-trees, and Woodchats not un- 

 common; while now and then a Red-legged Partridge ran 

 or fluttered across the road. At Cadaques itself we could 

 learn nothing about '' the daring cragsmen " spoken of by - 

 Don Estanislao Vayreda y Vila in his * Fauna Ornitologica 

 de la Provincia de Gerona/ and although the entire juvenile 

 population seemed anxious to meet our wishes, and. even to 

 encourage our hopes as fast as they could learn them, their 

 statements did not bear the test of examination. No doubt 

 some Gulls nest in the cliffs, and possibly the two species of 

 Petrel common in the Mediterranean, but no islands were 

 visible which seemed at all suited to either the Eleonora 

 Falcon or Audouin^s Gull. And there was nothing par- 

 ticular in the scenery to make Cadaques worth a visit. 



At the fine old city of Gerona the only item of ornitho- 

 logical interest was in our hotel " de los Italian os," where 

 the cook had several Nightingales in separate cages in the 

 patio ; the best of these songsters having been five years in 

 captivity. On Sunday, May 10th, there was a vast procession 

 to a natural amphitheatre in the hills, among the ruined 

 fortifications above the city. For some time past the 

 heavens had been black with clouds, and next day there 

 was a great rain, which lasted all the way to Barcelona. 

 Nothing need be said about that well-known city, and at 

 Montserrat, where the heat was intense, tlie only birds of 

 interest were the Black Chat and the Blue Rock-Thrush. 

 We then proceeded due northward to Ripoll, where the Ter, 

 coming down from Camprodon, joins the Freser, which 

 descends from the steep sides of the Puigmal and the Col de 

 Nuria. Here we stayed several days in hopes of fishing, 

 but the water was very thick and the few fish proved to be 

 "burbot" or grayling, and not trout. The country is 

 mountainous and thickly wooded — beech below and fir above 

 — but very difficult to work ; while Ribas, higher up the valley 

 of the Freser, although very picturesque, is quite un suited 

 to the larger birds of prey, the mountains being chiefly 



