216 



WILD SPAIN. 



300 and 400 years old, though how they could tell is a 

 mystery. This bird was killed with ball on the wing. The 

 smell of Griffon Vultures when shot is strong and most 

 offensive : their claws and long feathers are always much 

 abraded by attrition on the rocks, and their whole plumage 

 has a worn and faded appearance, in harmony with the 

 decay and death in which they rejoice. 



The young vultures were at last (July 8th) on the wing, 

 having spent some three months in the nests :* they are 

 now of a clear, bright cinnamon colour, much handsomer 

 than the adults, each feather being shaded ; and one shot 

 to-day measured between eight and nine feet in expanse of 

 wing. 



Our lofty perch commanded a grand mountain landscape 

 — sierras extending range beyond range in swelling stony 

 masses or jagged sky-lines. Alpine Swifts dashed over- 

 head ; Blackchats and Blue Bock-Thrushes flitted among 

 the crags, and, with the great vultures soaring above and 

 below, afforded some interesting scenes. The mid-day heat 

 was intense, and we had a rough tramp down to the horses 

 through broken ground and thick young wood, where we 

 disturbed a Boe and saw many traces of others. It was 

 after dark when we reached a miserable wayside reirta, 

 where, alongside half a dozen snoring peasants and tor- 

 mented by a million fleas, we passed the night on the 

 ground. 



Beturning homewards next morning, while we were 

 passing through the outlying spurs or foothills of the 

 sierra, a pair of large dark eagles were observed hunting 

 a scrub- covered ridge. The larger of the two presently 

 swept down upon an unlucky rabbit and forthwith com- 

 menced to devour it, the male perching on a stump hard 

 by. They were favourably situate for a stalk, and by 

 riding round in a wide circuit I gained the reverse of the 

 ridge. On creeping forward to my marks, however, I 

 could at first see nothing— only a few palmetto bushes some 



* One nest still contained an unfledged youngster. On my appear- 

 ance at his abode the unsightly little brute at once disgorged a mass of 

 carrion that necessitated an immediate retreat. 



