164 Unexplored Spain 
suitable crags which elsewhere form their invariable nesting-site. 
Cushats and robins lent an air of familiarity to the scene, while 
azure-winged magpies—a species peculiarly Spanish—hopped and 
chattered hard by, curiosity overcoming fear. There were also 
pretty Sardinian warblers, with long tails and a white nuchal 
spot like a coal-tit. Other birds seen in this sierra include merlin 
and kestrel, green woodpecker, jay, blackbird, thrush, redwing, 
woodlark, and chaffinch; and on off-days we shot a few red- 
legged partridges. 
The two packs employed to-day numbered forty—twenty-four 
big and sixteen small podencos, all yellow and white, the larger 
having a cross of mastiff. That evening two of the best in the 
pack were missing—* Capitan,” killed by a boar in the mancha ; 
the other returned during the 
night, fearfully wounded, one 
foreleg almost severed. 
The head-keeper told us that 
these podencos fear the he-wolf. 
They will run keenly on his 
scent, but never dare to close 
with him as they do with boar. 
Yet curiously they have been 
SARDINIAN WARBLER known to fraternise with the 
she-wolf, and in no case will 
they attack, but rather incline to caress her. 
It was estimated by the drivers that eighty head of big-game 
(reses) were viewed to-day. Thirty-two shots were fired, but 
only my one stag was killed. Had the wind held steady, much 
better results were probable.’ Included among the guests at 
Mezquitillas—and they represented rank and learning, arms, 
State, and Church—was a genial and imposing personality 
in the poet laureate of Spain, Sr. D. Antonio Cavestany, who 
celebrated this delightful if somewhat unlucky day in a series of 
graceful couplets. We are wholly unequal to translate, but 
copy two or three which readers who understand Spanish will 
appreciate :— 
1] never myself count shots, hits or misses—horas non numero. The above record is 
solely due to the inception by our gracious hostess at Mezquitillas of a pretty custom, 
namely, that for every bullet fired, a small sum should be payable by the sportsman towards 
a local charity. 
