DRESSER : THREE WEEKS ON THE GUADALQUIVIR. 33 



Ring Plover, for it was here that Mr. Abel Chapman, some years ago, 

 found these birds breeding. The Pratincoles were very amusing ; 

 they would fly round us, and then settle on the ground, and after 

 running some distance with high-uplifted wings, would throw them- 

 selves on the ground and lay for a few moments with outspread 

 wings, like huge butterflies pinned on a board, and would then 

 suddenly start up and circle round, uttering their alarm note chirrick, 

 chirrick. Towards evening, on our way to our camping-ground, I 

 was fortunate in securing a couple of young Stilts, about two or three 

 days old, which I skinned. They had brown eyes, the beak livid 

 blue, and the legs were livid plumbeous, with flesh colour showing 

 through the blue tinge. We took several nests of the Mallard, and 

 I ate two or three of the eggs beaten up in the cup of my flask, with 

 a little whisky. Late in the evening we reached a small sandy island 

 surrounded by shallow water, and camped for the night on a patch of 

 sand, and as the men were unloading the horses I hunted round, and 

 found two nests of Motacilla flava, and one of the Redshank, close 

 to our camp. Whilst the men were cooking their supper, which 

 consisted of eggs mixed up with garlic and some of the horrible red 

 sausage, I examined the basket, and found that our bag consisted of 

 seventy-five Pratincoles' eggs, thirty-seven Avocets', eight Kentish 

 Plovers', and a few Stilts' eggs, besides several clutches of Short-toed 

 Larks, Redshanks, and one of the Lesser Tern. The weather was 

 clear and very hot all day, but a high wind was blowing, which made 

 it very pleasant. 



Just as we were settling down for the night we saw several 

 Bee-eaters flying about the end of the island, and on going there 

 we found about a dozen nest-holes in the flat ground, three of which 

 we dug out, but found no eggs. The nests, or rather nest-holes,, 

 were about \\ ft. long, ending in a roundish chamber, which was 

 about arm's depth below the surface. As it became dark the 

 mosquitoes were very troublesome, and surrounded us in dense 

 clouds, but they appeared to annoy the men much more than me, 

 for I soon fell asleep and did not trouble myself about them ; but 

 ere long we were awoke by the cattle, who several times came to 

 pay us a visit, and once or twice the bulls annoyed us considerably, 

 and when driven off, kept walking round, bellowing loudly. 



Soon after daybreak (i8th May) we turned out, and the men 

 cooked their breakfast, I, as usual, making a meal of a couple of 

 biscuits, a piece of chocolate, and a couple of eggs beaten up with 

 whisky. After wading some distance through the shallow water, we 

 reached a long stretch of tolerably dry, grass-covered ground, and 

 here, besides Stilts, Pratincoles, and Kentish Plover, we met with 



Feb. 1890. c 



