190 Unexplored Spain 
who brought in no less than 393 ducks in one day! His late 
Majesty, King Alfonso XII., comes second with 381 ducks shot 
in three hours and a half. On his second visit, on hearing that 
he had secured his century, His Majesty stopped shooting, being 
more interested to watch the fowl passing overhead. His total 
was 127. King Alfonso XIII. had an unlucky day here—rain and 
storm—hence he only totalled ninety odd. Many years ago, our 
late friend, Santiago Udaéta, was credited with 270 ducks to his 
own gun in one day. 
These bags are truly enormous, for, big as it is, Daimiel is not 
a patch in size as compared with our own marismas of the 
RED-CRESTED POCHARD—AN IMPRESSION AT DAIMIEL 
Guadalquivir. There is here, on the other hand, abundant cover 
to conceal the guns, which is not the case with us. 
It was at Daimiel that we first made acquaintance with the 
red-crested pochard—a handsome and truly striking species, 
smart in build, colour, action, and every attribute. A bushy 
red head outstretched on a very long neck contrasts with the jet- 
black breast, while the white “‘ speculum” on the wings shows up 
conspicuous as a transparency, especially when a band passes over- 
head in the azure vault, or splashes down on reed-girt shallow— 
one actually seems to see through the gauzy texture of their 
quills. These ducks breed in numbers at Daimiel, as do also 
mallards, garganey, and ferruginous ducks, together with stilts, 
grebes, and herons of all denominations. Greatly do we regret 
that our experience at Daimiel does not include the spring-season 
with all its unknown ornithological possibilities. An unfortunate 
