ORNITHOLOGICAL SKETCHES 



FROM 



SPAIN. 



i. 



THE BEAEDED VULTURE 



(Gypaetus barbatus). 



AFTER many difficulties we succeeded in finding a nest of the 

 great Bearded Vulture ( Gypaetus barbatus) in the mountains 

 of Spain. 



I had rambled with some fellow-travellers through several 

 tracts of that country where it was said to be tolerably 

 common, but nowhere had we managed to see one of these 

 interesting birds, not to speak of finding a nest. At last, 

 after a great deal of trouble, we were enabled to explore an 

 eyrie of this Vulture-Eagle in the mountains of the Sierra 

 Nevada, by the help of a German resident in Granada. 

 Setting out from that town, we went a long way up the valley 

 of the Genii, then turned aside into a narrower valley, and after 

 a ride of nearly five hours reached a little hacienda (or farm, 

 as we should call it), situated at a considerable elevation on 

 the side of a big hill. 



