266 



WILD SPAIN. 



CHAPTER XXII. 



BIBD-LIFE OF THE SPANISH SPRING-TIME. 



III. — By Lake and Lagoon. 



Spain is not a land of lakes ; the so-called lagoons are 

 often mere accumulations of flood-water, the result of the 

 winter's rains which occupy shallow basins, or swamp the 

 low-lying lands. Many of these hybernal lagoons dry up 

 entirely as the hot weather sets in ; others remain in 

 greatly reduced proportions, hidden, as a rule, amidst 

 reeds and dense aquatic herbage. 



Few Spanish lakes cover any considerable area, though 

 the Lagunas de Janda, near Trafalgar, those of Fuente- 

 piedra near Malaga, and the Albufera of, Valencia, are 

 exceptions. 



The Laguna de Janda, an inland sea of yellow muddy 

 water, surrounded by belts of sedge and cane-brake stretch- 

 ing away for miles, is a well-known wildfowl resort, abound- 

 ing in winter with Grey Geese, ducks, and divers of many 

 kinds, besides Snipe, Bails, Bitterns, and aquatic birds in 

 all their varieties. The dry plateaux on the north are a 

 notable resort of Little Bustard ; and large bags of Quail 

 and Golden Plover are there, at times, secured. But this 

 is well-known ground, and having been described by others, 

 we will only add that in spring Janda is noteworthy as 

 one of the breeding-stations of the Crane (Grits com- 

 munis), which still nests in some numbers amidst the 

 vast area of reed-beds and thick swamp that lie towards 

 Casa Vieja. 



The nests of the Crane are huge accumulations of flags 

 and aquatic plants built up in the shallow marsh, and 

 hidden amidst the growing reeds, which in spring com- 



