240 



WILD SPAIN. 



During several springs we have made ornithological 

 expeditions each of a fortnight to three weeks' duration, in 

 various parts of Andalucia (itself nearly as large as Eng- 

 land), La Mancha, and Southern Estremadura. Between 

 the great rivers Guadalquivir and Guadiana lies a wild 

 region, almost abandoned to wild animals, and rich in 

 picturesque desolation. The district is an undulating 

 plain, its chief physical constituent being sand, or light 

 sandy soil, clad over wide areas with pine-forest, elsewhere 

 with open heaths which extend from the Atlantic to the 

 confines of Estremadura and the border-land between 

 Spain and Portugal, or rather of the ancient kingdom of 

 the Algarves. The southern portion is known as the Cotos 

 del Rey and Donana, the latter, extending some forty miles 

 inland from the sea, the property of the noble house bear- 

 ing one of the oldest European titles — that of Medina 

 Sidonia. The Coto de Donana, as the name implies, is a 

 preserve, and, owing to the circumstance of our having for 

 many years been lessees of the sporting rights, this lovely 

 wilderness has formed a favourite hunting-ground at all 

 seasons. But we have also traversed some other of the 

 wilder regions of the south — many quite as rich, zoologi- 

 cally — such, for example, as the wooded province of 

 Cordova, the rcgas of the Sierra Nevada and the environs 

 of Almaden ;~and we now believe that, for the naturalist, 

 the richest field of all is in Southern Estremadura and the 

 almost unexplored borders of Guadiana. That river, from 

 Daimiel downwards, flows through wildernesses of cane- 

 brake, abounding both in large and small game, and in 

 spring-time with infinite variety of birds. 



For our present purpose we have divided the Spanish- 

 plains into three sections :— the pine-forests, the open 

 heaths, and the meres or lagoons ; of these we will now 

 take the pinoles. 



The first thing that strikes an Englishman in Spain is 

 the number and variety of the birds of prey. At home we 

 have practically exterminated these, but here they are ever 

 in evidence, from massive eagles and yet larger vultures 

 down to the smallest falcons. Those bald-headed fellows, 



