Lord Lilford on the Ornithology of Spain. 169 



last species, and apparently does not live in such large companies. 

 Senor Graells informed me that V. monachus is not uncommon 

 in the neighbourhood of Madrid, and it also occurs in the Pyre- 

 nees. Every specimen of this Vulture that I have seen alive or 

 dead has the points of the tail-feathers worn bare to the shafts, 

 a characteristic which may be seen very distinctly when the bird 

 is soaring overhead against the clear blue sky of Andalucia or 

 Sardinia. I may here mention that I was assured that this vul- 

 ture, in Sardinia, does not lay till the end of March, whilst G. 

 fulvus certainly has eggs in February. I state this only on the 

 authority of the Sarde shepherds, who are naturally well ac- 

 quainted with both species. 



A fine adult pair of Lammergeyers {Gypaetus occidentalis) 

 visited the neighbourhood of our camp near Marbella in April. 

 The Cazadores assured me that this species often drives the Ibex 

 over a precipice, and feasts upon the bones after the other Vul- 

 tures have devoured the flesh. The mountain-chains of Anda- 

 lucia are well adapted to the habits of this bird ; and, although 

 it cannot properly be called a common bird, it is found in paii's 

 throughout the Serrania de Ronda, as also in the Sierra Nevada, 

 and in the Pyrenees. There is a very fine specimen in the 

 University Museum of Valencia, which was killed close to that 

 city — a very unlikely locality, as the surrounding country is flat 

 and richly cultivated. Machado mentions this bird as rare in 

 the Sierra Morena ; but as he also states that Caprimulgus euro- 

 pcEUS haunts the tobacco-manufactory at Seville in great num- 

 bers, I think we need not place any great amount of faith on 

 his powers of observation ; in fact, it is very unusual to meet 

 any Spaniard who cares for, or occupies himself about, any 

 branch of Natural History, and any bird they do not see every 

 day is to them a wonder. 1 believe the Lammergeyer of Spain 

 undoubtedly belongs to the race occidentalis of Schlegel ; though, 

 if size is to be considered as a real distinction, the Andalucian 

 bird fully equals the largest I ever saw in Turkey, or the Italian 

 Alps. The Spaniards call this species Quebrantahuesos, i. e. 

 Bone-cracker ; I have also heard it called Aguila; but it is a well- 

 known bird in its mountain haunts, and generally distinguished 

 by the shepherds and Cazadores by the first-mentioned name. 



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