DRESSER : THREH: weeks on THE GUADALQUIVIR. 37 



being worked in the foundation of the nests. On the other hand, we 

 found no feathers in the nests of L. vielanocephalus, and in one 

 instance two eggs were deposited on the ground, in a depression, 

 without any sign of a nest. Here we found several more nests of 

 Lai'us gelastes and Lams vielanocephalus, which we took ; and also 

 several of Rccurvirostra avocetta. 



I may here state that on arrival in England we sent the eggs, 

 which we firmly believe to be those of Lams melanocephaliis, to 

 Lord Lilford for inspection, and he considers them to be those of 

 Sterna atiglica, which they certainly resemble, but run rather larger 

 than those in my collection of this Tern, and as we did not shoot 

 the Gull, the question cannot be satisfactorily decided ; but I trust 

 at some future time to re-visit these parts and finally set it at rest. 



We had arranged for the steamer to meet us at the other end of 

 the marsh, so we started off to the place we had indicated, visiting 

 several more small mud islands, but finding no more guUeries. 

 Towards noon we caught sight of the steamer, and ere long met 

 the skipper, who had walked on to find us. Here we found a long 

 tract of dry ground bordering the river, and covered closely with 

 grass and low bushes ; and here we found several nests of the 

 Pratincole and Kentish Plover, but nothing else of any note. 

 Amongst the bushes the Clouded Yellow Butterfly was very numerous, 

 and in parts close to the marsh, where the mud had only recently 

 dried, and was baked and cracked by the scorching sun, I observed 

 myriads of wood-lice and small black beetles. We went on board 

 for lunch, after which we sent two of the men with a small net to 

 catch some fish, and in a couple of hours' time they returned with 

 a large bag full of fish, which closely resembled Grey Mullet, and 

 some smaller ones like Roach, the former of which we found 

 excellent eating. 



We now had to think of starting back for Seville, so we settled 

 with the old fisherman, who started on foot across the marshes for 

 his hut on the Caho, and we steamed up the river for Coria, which 

 town we reached late in the evening. On the way up we saw many 

 Harriers, Black Terns, Black Kites, Bee-eaters, and also several 

 Marbled Ducks. We remained all night at Coria, leaving early the 

 following morning (22nd May) for Seville, and on the way up we 

 were hard at work packing up our specimens and our portmanteaus, 

 so as to have all ready to take on shore directly we arrived at 

 Seville, as we wanted a little spare time to see the sights of Seville. 

 We arrived there soon after nine, and paid off our men, sending our 

 luggage to the Union Bank of Spain and England, as Mr. Drake, the 

 manager of the bank, who had been most kind in assisting us in 



Feb. 1S90. 



