496 ORNITHOLOGICAL SKETCHES 



the whole rock, nor did we find one in any other part of the 

 peninsula; while the many ineffectual attempts to procure a 

 specimen which I made in all parts of Spain proved that the 

 bird was extremely rare. 



From morning until night I used to ramhle about the 

 mountains, plains, marshes, and sea-coasts I may safely say 

 through every zone of that country, but I only once managed 

 to catch a distant glimpse of a Bonelli's Eagle. This was in 

 the range of the Picos de Europa, where the rare bird circled 

 for a few minutes over a bare mountain summit, near the 

 nest of a " Stein " Eagle. 



I believe that I am right in saying that, excepting the 

 Sea-Eagle, Bonelli's is the rarest of all the resident eagles 

 of Spain. It is perhaps more abundant in Southern Italy 

 and Greece, but in Spain the frequency of its occurrence is 

 much over-estimated by many naturalists. 



I have in various countries had many opportunities of 

 observing the Osprey, which may safely be said to be the 

 most widely and evenly distributed eagle in the whole world. 



Water and plenty of fish are all that it demands from a 

 district before settling in it. It fishes just as readily in the 

 sea as in fresh water, and adapts its nest to the nature of the 

 locality where it is fishing. In treeless steppes it builds on 

 the bare ground; and by the sea in the steepest precipices, as 

 well as on the lowest coral-reefs. In well-wooded countries 

 it selects tall thick trees, but in the high mountains the most 

 inaccessible places in the rocks. Everywhere its nest retains 

 the same character, being built of very coarse materials, and 

 being, in comparison with the not very great size of the bird, 

 always disproportionately large. In our woods one may in- 

 stantly recognize it by its very peculiar shape and its dirty 

 grey colour. Large trees, such as old oaks or half-withered 

 pines, are always chosen, and the bird invariably places its 



