CHAPTER XXXIX 

 SPRING-TIME IN THE MARISMAS 



BIRD-LIFE IN A DRY SEASON 



Bird-life in the Spanish marisma — in spring no less than in 

 winter — presents spectacles of such abounding variety as can 

 nowhere in Europe be sur- 

 passed. In the Arctic are vaster 

 aggregations, but these, com- 

 prising, say, only half-a-dozen 

 species, are less attractive. It 

 is the infinite kaleidoscopic 

 succession of graceful and dis- 

 similar forms that hour by hour 

 flash on one's sight — in a grey plover (Mat) 



word, it is variety that lends 

 abiding charm to our Spanish bird- world. 



These scenes have already been described — we have ourselves 

 described them in detail, and do not propose to recapitulate, 

 alluring though the subject be. 



Here we purpose depicting bird -life under undescribed 

 conditions — in a spring when, by reason of exceptional drought, 

 the myriad marsh-dwellers find themselves entirely at fault. 

 Winging their seasonal way from xVfrica, to seek the seclusion of 

 reed-girt pools and their accustomed league-long swamps and 

 shallows, they found instead a calcined plain, no drop of water 

 remaining, plant-life either prematurely parched or pulverised 

 beneath a fiery sun. Watching the arrival of the advance-guard 

 in early spring, one wondered what the bewildered hosts would 

 do next, how they would face this fresh freak of nature. 



The marismas, it should be explained, normally dry every 

 summer, however wet the previous winter may have been. 



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