394 



WILD SPAIN. 



failure. This, however, did not greatly disturb us — other 

 game demanded attention, and we knew our web-footed 

 friends had only bid us ait revoir. " They will return at the 

 end of February," asserted Vasquez ; and return they did, 

 to find the sunken tubs at El Jondon and along the cane- 

 brakes of Quebrantiero again " occupied in force " — once 

 more along the line rang out a fusillade. 



The transit of the aquatic birds to and from Africa 

 often presents remarkable spectacles. During several days 

 at this season (February-March), while cruising in the 

 Straits, the sea has been sprinkled in every direction — 

 both Atlantic and Mediterranean — with bands of duck 

 coming off from the African shore and skimming low on 

 the waves on a northerly or north-westerly course. They 

 do not proceed direct to the Far North, but linger for some 

 days on the Spanish side. Here, early in March, their 

 numbers almost equalled those of November ; that is of 

 ducks, for the geese had almost entirely withdrawn. On 

 March 5th clouds of wigeon gyrated at vast altitudes — 

 mere specks in the upper air, while others assembled, 

 massed together in hordes on the water, echando corros para 

 irse — arranging travelling parties, as Vasquez puts it : sure 

 signs both, of the coming change. By March 10th fully 

 four-fifths had disappeared ; while on the 15th scarcely a 

 duck of all their thousands remained, except of those 

 species which habitually nest in Spain — e.g., mallards, 

 sheld-ducks, &c, or which come there in spring expressly 

 for that purpose, such as the white-eyed pochards, marbled 

 and white-fronted ducks, and the like. 



