28 SOME BIRDS OF THE CANARY ISLANDS 



Cuervo and scanned the horizon with his hand, shad- 

 ing his eyes, in a threatening and somewhat theatrical 

 attitude. 



Lorenzo's method of looking for nests was peculiar ; 

 he could not be made to understand that any bird 

 would be so foolish as to lay its eggs on the bare 

 ground, unprotected in any way by grass or shrub, 

 consequently his time was taken up in peering into 

 the small bushes, six inches or so in height, which were 

 sprinkled here and there over the desert. Later on, 

 when we found some Courser's eggs, it was with great 

 difficulty that he could be induced to see them as they 

 lay on the ground, although he was standing over them, 

 and when at length he succeeded in making them out, 

 his surprise and admiration were so great that he had 

 to be led away to a safe distance in order that he 

 should not inadvertently trample upon them. He was 

 extremely useful in every other way, and had a happy 

 knack of making us feel at home wherever we went in 

 the island. 



We found no more Houbara's eggs and no Courser's 

 eggs at all in the neighbourhood of La Oliva, although 

 we made long excursions each day we were there, going 

 on one occasion almost as far as the sea shore ; the 

 weather gradually improved, but it still kept fresh and 

 very windy. The only other nests which we did find 

 were those of the Stone-Curlew. This bird, so fre- 

 quently met with in Fuerteventura, is interesting as 

 being a regular summer visitor to England, and is one 

 of those birds which still breed with us sparingly in 

 two or three of our counties. These birds were, like 

 the Coursers and Houbaras, only just beginning to nest 



