12 On some Birds of the Canarij Islands. 



while^ I sprung them on purpose, and marked them down 

 about a quarter of a mile off. Dismounting I walked to- 

 wards them, and at first could only see the male, who coolly 

 stalked past me within thirty yards ; I soon, however, saw 

 the hen, squatting, about fifteen yards from me, and she let 

 me look her well over before she got up, and flying round a 

 little way, settled by the cock, and they both hurried back to 

 ■where I had first found them. As this hen had either eggs 

 or young (and from her extreme tameness 1 think she had 

 young ones), it must be very unusual to find the male asso- 

 ciating with her. 



The Bustards were in small parties, pairs, and single birds ; 

 the small parties of four or five Avere invariably males, the 

 pairs male and female, single birds female. I never saw a 

 Bustard away from the desert ; they appear never to come 

 into the corn. Small snails, lizards, and a trefoil were their 

 principal food. There were a few Song Thrushes in the 

 tamarisks, and the islanders told me that the Blackbird occa- 

 sionally occurs. A large Pipit, of which I savr many one 

 day, I was unable to find afterwards, so I did not get a skin. 

 I thought, of course, I could get them any time, and when 

 I saw them I was after a cock Bustard. The only Buzzard I 

 saw looked like the Buteo vidgaris; they are pretty common 

 in the mountains. 



In the neighbourhood of Puerto Cabras, on the north-east 

 coast, there were fewer land birds, but numbers of Waders. 

 The Kentish Plover was extremely common, breeding both 

 near the sea and some distance inland. The Whimbrel, 

 Sanderling, and Grey Plover were numerous ; I only saw 

 one Curlew ; the Turnstone was common, the Ringed Plover 

 rather rare. The Yellow-legged Herring Gull was more 

 numerous than I had seen it anywhere before, and I saw one 

 Lesser Black-backed Gull. A trip to Oliva, in the north, 

 produced no fresh species, but birds were much more numer- 

 ous than on the east coast. There is a good deal of corn- 

 land here, and at times a great many Quails; but this year 

 the crops are wretched, owing to the drought, and there 

 were few. On the coast near Puerto Cabras several jiairs of 



