45^; Captain H. Lyncs — Bird-notes 



XXI IT. — Bird-)iot('S in tiro AndaJtician Sierras. 

 ]U Captain 11. Lynes, R.N., M.B.O.IJ. 



DriiiXG the spring of 1910 the autliors of 'Unexplored 

 Spain/ ]\Ir. "Walter Bnek and Mr. Abel Chapman, very 

 kindly invited me to accompany them on some of their 

 ex|)e(litions into the sierras of southern Andalueia. 



Keatlers of that charming book will have fonnd ninch of 

 novelty and interest therein concerning the ornithology of 

 these sieri'as. and the anthors agree Avitli me in thinking 

 that a few of the purely ornithological results of the 

 expeditions, necessarily excluded from a book of so wide a 

 scope as ' Unexplored Spain/ may be of interest to readers 

 of 'The I bis. ^ 



The following notes concern ; — 



[a] San Ciistobab* the dominant mass of the Serrania de 

 Ivonda, a snuill sierra aboirt forty miles north of 

 (Jibraltar. 

 (/;) A spur of the Sierra Nevada between Granada and 

 the Pieacho dc la Veleta, bordering the upper waters 

 of the River jNIonachil. 

 The admirable descriptions in 'Unexplored Spain' render 

 detail as to the features of these regions unnecessary, but 

 for the benefit of those wlio have not yet read the book, the 

 following general oiitlines may here be given. 



Sax Cristokal. 



San Cristobal is a very distinctive mass of limestone crags 

 of similar geological formation to the more familiar country 



* To be quite accurate, it sliould perhaps he stated that the name of 

 this mountain in all Spanish maps is the " Sierra del Pinar/' the title 

 '' Sau Cristobal "' applying only to one of its loftiest and most precipitous 

 peaks — the " Cumbre de San Cristobal/' impending almost directly abo^ e 

 Urazalema. Further, it may be added that in itself the Spanish name 

 is wrong, since it ought to be " Sierra del Pinsapal " {vice Pinar). 



The height of San Cristobal is given in Artero's Atlas (Barcelona, 

 1908) as nearly 2400 metres. It is, however, rather less than 6000 feet, 

 and the highest point we passed in 1910 apjieared, by aneroid, to be 

 approximately 5400 feet. — A. C. 



