Bibliographical Notice. 69 



It is impossible to refer to half the interesting points presented 

 by this volume, but the authors' experiences with the ibex of the 

 Peninsula deserve notice, for they are, by far, the most novel 

 feature of the book. This ibex is quite distinct from the steinboJc 

 of the Italian Alps, and belongs to the group of " turs," or sheep- 

 like goats, found in Southern Europe from the Caucasus westward. 

 No true wild sheep, such as the moufflon, are now known to exist in 

 Spain ; and although ^Mr. Lydekker, to whose authority we bow, ha? 

 stated that the moufflon was formerly abundant in the Peninsula, 

 we have no knowledge of its existence within historic times 

 further west than the Balearic Islands, and even there it has long 

 been extinct. To return to the ibex : it is still found in some of 

 the deep and remarkably narrow limestone gorges on the Spanish 

 side of the Pyrenees, and in ' Short Stalks ' itr. E. X. iiuxton has 

 given a capital account of his experiences with that wily animal in 

 some of its haunts in Aragon, which were practically, we believe, 

 rediscovered by the late Sir Victor Brooke. From the Pyrenees we 

 trace it along the mountains of Central Spain to the Sierra de 

 Gredos, which forms the apex of the watershed between the Douro 

 and the Tagus, and by a continuation of that range — known 

 as the Serra da Estrelha — the ibex enters Portugal. South of this 

 there appears to be a break of continuity, and when the ibex reappears 

 in the Sierra Morena (according to the authors) and undoubtedly in 

 the Sierra Nevada, as well as in the Sierra Bermeja overhanging the 

 Mediterranean, it has varied so far from the northern t}'pe, Cajira 

 pijrenaica, that Schimper considered the differences as specific, and 

 conferred the name of C. hispanica upon the southern race. From 

 their practical and consequently valuable experiences of both races 

 the authors are able to give us some useful details respecting the 

 habits and haunts of these animals ; from which it appears that in 

 the higher ranges ibex never descend, even in winter, to forests or 

 coverts of any kind; but in the Sierras of Bermeja and Palmitera, 

 which do not exceed 5000 feet in elevation and are clothed to the 

 summit with wood, ibex make lairs in the scrub like those of a roe- 

 deer, and in one drive " wild goat " and wild boar were afoot 

 simultaneously. But both races resort to the narrowest and most 

 overhung ledges on the first alarm. 



If we were writing for sportsmen we could dilate upon the 

 chapters on " Deer driving in the Forests," " Wild-fowling in the 

 Wilderness" both with the cahresfos or stalking-horses and the 

 stanchion guns, the hunting of the grisly boar, trout-tishing in the 

 northern provinces, bustard-shooting, and many other to])ics ; while 

 if we have refrained from saying anything about the Avild (feral) 

 camels of the marisma, it is because almost every other reviewer 

 has, metaphorically, had a shot at them. But we think we have 

 said enough to give a fair idea of one of the most fascinating volumes 

 which has ever come under our knowledge. 



