164 Unexplored Spain 



suitable crags which elsewhere form their invariable nesting-site. 

 Cushats and robins lent an air of familiarity to the scene, while 

 azure-winged magpies — a species peculiarly Spanish — hopped and 

 chattered hard by, curiosity overcoming fear. There were also 

 pretty Sardinian warblers, with long tails and a white nuchal 

 spot like a coal-tit. Other birds seen in this sierra include merlin 

 and kestrel, green woodpecker, jay, blackbird, thrush, redwing, 

 woodlark, and chaffinch ; and on off-days we shot a few red- 

 legged partridges. 



The two packs employed to-day numbered forty — twenty-four 

 big and sixteen small j^odencos, all yellow and white, the larger 

 having a cross of mastiff. That evening two of the best in the 

 pack were missing — " Capitan," killed by a boar in the mancha ; 



the other returned during the 

 night, fearfully wounded, one 

 foreleor almost severed. 



The head-keeper told us that 

 these podencos fear the he-wolf. 

 They will run keenly on his 

 scent, but never dare to close 

 with him as they do with boar. 

 Yet curiously they have been 

 SARDINIAN WARBLER kuowu to fratcmisc with the 



she-wolf, and in no case will 

 they attack, but rather incline to caress her. 



It was estimated by the drivers that eighty head of big-game 

 (reses) were viewed to-day. Thirty-two shots were fired, but 

 only my one stag was killed. Had the wind held steady, much 

 better results were probable.^ Included among the guests at 

 Mezquitillas — and they represented rank and learning, arms, 

 State, and Church — was a genial and imposing personality 

 in the poet laureate of Spain, Sr. D. Antonio Cavestany, who 

 celebrated this delightful if somewhat unlucky day in a series of 

 graceful couplets. We are w^holly unequal to translate, but 

 copy two or three wdiich readers who understand Spanish will 

 appreciate : — 



^ I never myself count shots, hits or misses — Jioras non numero. The above record is 

 solely due to the incejitif^n by our gracious hostess at Mezquitillas of a pretty custom, 

 namely, that for every bullet tired, a .--mall sum should be payable by the sportsman towards 

 a local charity. 



