-!9 



observe one or more of these Vultures on iuiy day of 

 the year; in Central Spain also the Griffon is coinnion 

 enough in all suitable localities, although perhaps not so 

 abundant there as the Cinereous, or so-called " Black" 

 Vulture {VuUtir cinereus). I have seen it in Galicia 

 occasionally, and found it nesting in large colonies on 

 the frontiers of Asturias and Sautander, as also in 

 Guipuzcoa and Navarra, In Aragon, Cataluiia, and 

 Valencia it did not appear to me to be so abundant as in 

 the other provinces. The Griffon is naturally a bird of the 

 Sierras, and, although constantly to be met with in the 

 plains at all seasons, its visits thereunto are induced 

 solely by " questions of supply." The ancient idea that 

 Vultures find the carcases that furnish their almost 

 exclusive diet by scent has long been exploded. Mr. 

 Saunders has pithily summed up their system of tele- 

 graphy in about three lines, for which I refer my readers 

 to the oft-quoted ' Manual.' 



The Griffon Vulture makes a large nest of sticks and 

 grass, and lays one or two white eggs, generally about 

 the end of February. The nests are usually placed on 

 the ledges or in the cavities of weather-worn ranges of 

 cliffs, and as several, often many, pairs of these carrion- 

 feeders nest in close proximity to each other, and there 

 is almost always a gathering-place for the unemployed 

 of their community in the immediate neighbourhood of 

 the breeding-establishment, it will be readily believed 

 that many wild and picturesque mountain-gorges in 

 Spain lack the charm of fragrance during the season of 

 flowers — in fact, these Vulture-haunted cliffs smell most 

 abominably, in spite of the frequent abundance of 



