SOME FURTHER NOTES ON THE GREAT BUSTARD. 341 



Isla Menor, so-called " islands " formed by the triple 

 channel of that great river. 



These " islands " comprise vast areas of level pas- 

 turage — in winter bare of herbage, almost dry mud, but 

 by April, knee-deep in richest grass and vegetation, 

 resonant with the " whit-ti-wit " of unnumbered quail. 

 On these flowery plains are reared some of the choicest 

 breeds of the fighting bull — those, for example, of the 

 Marques del Saltillo — which may here be admired at 

 leisure. 



The first point in the life-history of these Bustards of the 

 marisma is their semi-migratory character. We do not 

 mean to infer more than that they are locally migratory, 

 shifting their ground according to season and food-supply, 

 but not leaving the country or crossing any sea. Africa is 

 the only country they could go to, but Otis tarda appears 

 to be unknown, or at any rate very scarce, in Morocco and 

 Algeria. Their migrations are confined to Spanish territory. 

 In the middle of May, while ibex- shooting, we have observed 

 a flight of seven Bustards in the heart of the Sierra de 

 Bonda, passing high over those lofty peaks. 



On these plains there are Bustard of one sex or 

 the other (not always both) at all seasons. The males 

 leave the pasturage for the corn in February and March, 

 followed later by the females as the laying season 

 approaches. Both sexes are then seen in mixed bands as 

 above described — two or three up to a dozen males in 

 each band composed of five or six times that number of 

 females, but never in single pairs or a single male consort- 

 ing with a female retinue. 



Here also we have enjoyed watching, at sunrise, the 

 imposing performances of the males — often five or six 

 bands in view at once,* but, as before, without detecting 

 any specific action — nothing beyond " show." 



* Nowhere can these spectacles be witnessed with greater ease, 

 or to better advantage, than on the Lower Guadalquivir, where, 

 from the deck of our vessel, we have counted as many as forty or 

 fifty bairbones within easy reach of a field-glass. It is, however, only 

 in the first hours of daylight that they are thoroughly " on view." 



