With regai'd to tlic probability of the Irish specimen 

 having escaped from captivity, I can only say that there 

 is nothing in any way impossible in its having found 

 its way voluntarily from the north of Spain, where the 

 species is locally very common ; a flight of three or 

 four hundred miles would hardly overstrain the staying- 

 powers of a Griffon, even on the supposition that it 

 came to Ireland straight across the sea from the Can- 

 tabrian Mountains. The reason of its visit is difficult 

 to conjecture, as I imagine that unburied remains of 

 animals must have always been more abundant in the 

 neighbourhood of the bird's home (supposing him to 

 have been of Spanish origin) than in the " distressful 

 country," even in the worst of times. I may here say 

 that the details of another occurrence of the Griffon, 

 alluded to by Mr. Saunders in his ' Manual,' are well 

 known to me, and that 1 have not the slightest doubt as 

 to correct identification in this instance. I can claim an 

 intimate acquaintance with the present species in Spain, 

 Sardinia, North Africa, European Turkey, and Cyprus, 

 and have also observed it rarely in Northern Italy, in 

 Sicily, and in Crete. The Griffon Vulture and its habits 

 in Spain, North Africa, and Palestine have been so fully 

 and so ably described by Colonel Irby, Canon Tristram, 

 Mr. 0. Salvin, and other waiters, that to give details of 

 my own experience on the subject would be little more 

 than vain repetition. I will therefore only summarize 

 from my notes and journals on the subject with regard 

 to the first-mentioned of these countries, — my well- 

 beloved Spain. There is, I imagine, hardly a square mile 

 of Andalucia from which it would not be possible to 



