24 DRESSER : THREE WEEKS ON THE GUADALQUIVIR. 



at the place where our horses were awaiting us, early in the afternoon, 

 and mounting, we rode ofif, passing several large sheets of water on our 

 way to the Stilts' home. Arrived there, we were met first by the 

 Whiskered Terns, who, clamouring loudly, flew round us before we 

 arrived amongst the rushes. A little further on, numbers of Stilts 

 flew close around us, uttering their wailing call, keeck^ keeck ; every 

 now and then settling down close to us, and after running for a few 

 paces on the plants covering the surface of the water, would fly up 

 again and circle round us. They were extremely tame, and let us 

 approach within a few paces, until a shot was fired, as the Colonel 

 wanted a pair for his collection, and they then kept well out of gun- 

 shot range. We picked out a few clutches of the best marked eggs 

 of both the Stilt and Whiskered Tern, and then returned back to the 

 grass covered prairie. On our way back to the river we saw several 

 flocks of shore birds. Grey Plover {Sqnatarola helvetica), Pigmy 

 Curlew, Dunlin, Ring Plover, etc., and by using the old man's horse 

 as a stalking-horse, my companion shot specimens of all those birds, 

 and also two Sand-Grouse {Pterodes arenarius). These birds do not 

 frequent the dry sandy localities of which there are large tracts not 

 far distant, but are always found in the grass-covered spots in the 

 marismas, where, not long before, there could have been nothing but 

 vast sheets of water and patches of mud ; and their eggs are, we 

 were assured, invariably found in these marismas or marshes. They 

 make no nest, but deposit their eggs in a suitable depression in the 

 ground without any lining. Late in the evening we returned to the 

 launch, and found that our men had already come back, bringing 

 with them four eggs of the Pratincole, three Baillon's Crake {Porzana 

 bailloni), three Kentish Plover, and three nests with eggs of the 

 Short-toed Lark. 



The next morning (loth May), as our supplies were low, we 

 determined to go up to Seville, so started quite early, the weather 

 being fine and the sun very hot. Just before midday we arrived at 

 Coria, and went ashore for a short time. Here we found many 

 warblers in the groves and orange gardens near the town, but did 

 not remain to collect any specimens or to look for eggs. This town, 

 though numbering about 4,000 inhabitants, is, to all appearance, 

 a century behind any English or French town ; the streets are only 

 partially paved with rough stones, and the centre of the street is 

 a gutter, which appears to act as a common sewer. Altogether, it 

 reminded me forcibly of a Mexican town, as I used to see them 

 when in that country twenty-five years ago. Between Coria and 

 Seville the banks of the river are well covered with willows, white 

 poplars, and tamarisks, and every here and there were gardens and 



Naturalist, 



