Flamingoes 267 
City,” with its hundreds of big eggs all massed together—a boat- 
load for the gathering—represents an El Dorado. As early as 1872 
eggs were brought to us—taken by our own marshmen on May 
24—but it was not till 1883 that we enjoyed seeing an occupied 
nest-colony ourselves. 
More than a quarter-century has sped since then, yet we 
cannot do better than substantially transcribe the narrative as 
recorded in Wald Spain. 
During the month of April we searched the marismas 
systematically for the nesting-places of flamingoes, but, though 
exploring large areas—riding many leagues in all directions 
through mud and water varying from a few inches to full three 
feet in depth—yet no sign of nests was then encountered. 
Flamingoes there were in thousands, together with a wealth of 
aquatic bird-life that we will not stop here to describe. But the 
water was still too deep, the mud-flats and new-born islets not 
yet sufficiently dried for purposes of nidification. The only species 
that actually commenced to lay in April were the coots, purple 
herons, peewits, Kentish plovers, stilts, redshanks, and a few more. 
April was clearly too early, and the writer lost nearly a 
week through an attack of ague, brought on by constant 
splashing about in comparatively cold water while a fierce sun 
always beat down on one’s head. In May the luck improved. 
Far away to the eastward flamingoes had always been most 
numerous, and once or twice we observed (early in May) signs 
that resembled the first rude beginnings of architecture, and 
encouraged us to persevere in what had begun to appear an 
almost hopeless quest. 
May 9 (1883).—The effects of dawn over the vast desolations 
of the marisma were specially lovely this morning. Before sun- 
rise the distant peaks of the Serrania de Ronda (seventy miles 
away) lay flooded in a blood-red light, and appearing quite twice 
their usual height. Half an hour later the mountains sank back 
in a golden glow, and long before noon had utterly vanished in 
quivering heat-haze and the atmospheric fantasies of infinite space. 
Amidst chaotic confusion of mirage effects we rode out across the 
wilderness: at first over dry mud-flats sparsely carpeted with 
dwarf scrub of marsh plants, or in places bare and naked, the 
sun-scorched surface cracked into rhomboids and parallelograms, 
and honeycombed with yawning cattle-tracks made long ago 
