FROM SPAIN. 483 



down at the feasting vultures. As soon as I saw that it 

 would come no lower, but that it was sweeping round in 

 widening circuits, I fired. Some feathers fell, and it plunged 

 down the valley severely wounded ; but not being able to see 

 the exact place where it had fallen, all our searching was 

 unfortunately unsuccessful. That was the only Bearded 

 Vulture I met with in the north of Spain. 



I also saw a splendid old bird, with bright yellow plumage, 

 on the Sierra de Gredos, in the interior of the country. It 

 glided away over a snow-field, took a wide sweep along the 

 ridge of the mountain, and after passing close to the spot 

 where I was lying in wait for ibex, it finally vanished down 

 a rugged valley. The natives of these mountains knew the 

 Bearded Vultures well, but could give me no information 

 about their nests. 



In the spurs of the Sierra Guadarrama I was shown a 

 resting-place of this bird on the rock of Pena Blanca, situated 

 in the midst of those low wooded hills. The niche in the 

 rock was certainly plastered with droppings, but I thought it 

 looked more like a favourite resort of the Griffon Vultures, 

 and that the mountains were too unimportant for the Bearded 

 Vulture. When climbing about the rocks, however, late in 

 the afternoon I observed two of these birds playfully circling 

 aloft one being very large, old, and with bright yellow under- 

 parts; the other smaller and rather darker. I gazed for a 

 long time at the splendid creatures as they tumbled about 

 and swept round, the wooded hill-tops, behind one of which 

 they at last disappeared. 



Those were the last Bearded Vultures that I observed in 

 Spain; but one of my attendants saw two others, which came 

 within shot of him several times while he was waiting for me 

 not far from an ambush on the ridge above the Escorial, 

 where I was watching for vultures. 



In Malaga I was fortunate enough to procure a live Bearded 



2i2 



