76 WILD SPAIN. 



single Grey Phalarope (Plialaropm ftdicarius), swimming 

 like a little duck on an open arnn/o, and the Sandeiiing, 

 Green and Common Sandpipers, were all abundant, together 

 with Euffs and Eeeves, though in mid-April the former still 

 lacked the full nuptial dress. Greenshanks and Knots we 

 did not meet with then ; though a month later (in May) 

 swarms of both these species, together with Whimbrels, 

 Grey Plovers, and Curlew- Sandpipers, all in perfect summer 

 plumage, poured into the marisma, to rest and recruit on 

 their direct transit from Africa to the Arctic. 



On April 8th the Pratincoles arrived, and thenceforward 

 their zigzag flight and harsh croak were constantly in 

 evidence all over the dry mud and sand, where they feed 

 on beetles. In 1891 we observed a " rush " of these birds, 

 some arriving, and others passing over high, almost out of 

 sight, on the 11th of April. Sometimes a score of these 

 curious birds would cast themselves down on the bare 

 ground all around one, some with expanded wings, and all 

 lying head to wind, much as a nightjar squats on the sand. 

 Pratincoles resemble terns when standing, but run like 

 plovers, and on summer evenings, with the terns, they hawk 

 after insects like swallows. Their beaks have a very wide 

 gai)e which is l)ordered with vermilion. 



Another conspicuous bird-group in the marisma are the 

 herons, of which seven or eight species are here, more or 

 less numerous. Besides the Common and Purple Herons, 

 the Buff-backed, Squacco, and Night Herons, Egrets, Spoon- 

 bills, and Glossy Ibis are also found, and several of one 

 kind or the other can generally be descried on the open 

 marsh — the first-named often perched on the backs of the 

 cattle or wild-bred ponies of the marisma, ridding them of 

 the ticks and " warbles," or embryo gadflies which burrow 

 in the poor brutes' hides. The rush-girt arroyos, or 

 stagnant channels, were dotted with these most elegant 

 birds, some actively feeding, plunging their heads under 

 to catch the darting water-beetles as they dive, others 

 resting (piiescent in every graceful pose. Here is a descrip- 

 tion of such a spot: — April 'lS)t]i. Lying this morning in 

 the punt, well hidden among thick tamarisks, in the 



