dresser: three weeks on the Guadalquivir. 27 



only inconvenience being the smoke, which had to find its way 

 out to the front of the house, which was boarded in, leaving an 

 aperture at the top for the escape of the smoke. 



Late in the evening, Barclay returned with four nests and eggs of 

 the Azure-winged Magpie {Cyanopica cooki), two of the Black Kite, 

 and two eggs of the Booted Eagle {Aquila pennata), the nest being 

 an old Kite's nest, which the Eagle had repaired and utilised, and 

 which contained three Kite's eggs. He also brought the old Eagle, 

 two young Buzzards {Bufeo vulgaris), one Dartford Warbler {Melizo- 

 philus undatiis), and five Genets — two adult and three young. 

 The weather was on the whole fine and hot, but there had been 

 two or three heavy showers. 



The next morning (13th May) we breakfasted at six, but as it 

 had rained in the night, and looked dull, we decided not to go to the 

 pine woods, but visited some woods near the town. We dug out 

 two Bee-eaters' nests, but found no eggs. We saw numbers of 

 Calandra Larks, Bee-eaters, Turtle Doves {Turtur co7nmunis), Azure- 

 winged Magpies, Cetti's Warblers {Cettia sericea), and a few 

 Hoopoes, and we watched a couple of the latter toying about like 

 a pair of large butterflies, and the Colonel shot one of them. I was 

 not very well to-day, so returned to the launch, and laid up all the 

 afternoon. Towards evening some boys brought a lot of Turtle 

 Doves and Quail {Coturnix communis)., which they offered for sale, 

 and we purchased several of the latter for our supper. To-day we took 

 eggs of the Woodchat Shrike, Azure-winged Magpie, and Corn 

 Bunting. 



At four o'clock on the following morning (14th May) we started 

 down the river, and arrived at Bonanza at about eleven. On the way 

 we saw numbers of Duck, chiefly Marbled Duck, Black Tern, 

 Harriers, etc. The weather was bright and very hot, and the sky 

 cloudless. On arrival at Bonanza we went ashore, and walked up to 

 San Lucar, a distance of about two miles. The road was ankle-deep 

 in dust, and it was a very hot tiring trudge up to the town. The wild 

 flowers were lovely, and a large mesembrianthemum, which covered 

 the sand-banks at the road-side, was especially lovely. Arrived at 

 the town, we visited a banker, to whom we had a letter of intro- 

 duction, and from him obtained particulars as to where we could 

 procure permission to ramble about and collect in one of the large 

 cotos. The town, like all the smaller Spanish towns, was badly 

 paved, the streets being scarcely fit for wheeled conveyances with 

 springs, and the centre of the streets being evidently used as a gutter 

 for the reception of sewage ; but many of the houses were well- 

 built and comfortable, almost all having a large open court-yard or 



Jan. 1890. 



