PREHISTORIC BIRDS 5 
living, to quote Colonel Verner, hundreds of Great Bustards, 
tens of thousands of Wild Geese and Water-fow] of all sorts, 
besides Cranes, Storks, and a few Flamingos, also Vultures, 
Eagles, and Harriers. The ancient inhabitants of the district 
would therefore have presumably had no difficulty in obtaining 
them for food. A considerable number of similar cave drawings 
representing Deer, Ibex, Goats, Horses and Cattle, one of a 
Bison, and some of Fish, had previously been discovered by 
Colonel Verner and his indefatigable colleagues in the enormous 
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PORPHYRIO. FLAMINGO. 
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cavern of La Pileta in the Serrania of Ronda. Many, if not 
most of these, are Paleolithic, which gives them a vastly 
greater antiquity than the birds. Some of the figures are 
depicted in yellow, some in red and others in black, but the 
first are the oldest. A few of the best are executed with 
great fidelity, particularly one fine Wild Goat about eighteen 
inches long, in black. Others are very imperfect and crude, 
often the merest outline, but in nearly every case the animal 
intended can be guessed at. In the opinion of Colonel Verner 
and others who have studied the subject, the Spanish pictures 
plainly indicate that Paleolithic man, accustomed to the 
