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 Eiva 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 Biva 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- 



