82 



WILD SPAIN. 



In another part of the wood was a nesting colony of the 

 Black Kite (Milrus migrans), several of which soared high 

 overhead. These birds hardly commence domestic duties 

 in earnest before May, but after some trouble I succeeded 

 in shooting a fine adult : also a pair of Purple Herons, of 

 which we found three nests, and a single Boiler (Coracias 

 garrvlus) from her nest in a broken stump, which contained 

 one egg. After this we were obliged to beat a retreat, for 

 the swarming hordes of leeches had developed so strong a 

 taste for the bare legs of our two men that a return to 

 terra firma became necessary. 



The whole region for many a league around Bocio is one 

 dead-flat plain — dry scrubby brushwood or stagnant marsh 

 and marisma. To the northward, in the farthest distance 

 are discernible the dim blue outspurs of the Sierra de 

 Aracena ; but beyond its charms to naturalist or sports- 

 man, the district has few other attractions. After spend- 

 ing ten days in the wilderness, we set our faces homewards, 

 and were not sorry on the third evening, after re-traversing 

 the waste, to sight once more the white towers and lustred 

 domes of San Lucar de Barameda. 



