Nachdruck verboten, 



Ußber setzungsrecht vorbehalten. 



Notes on the Fauoa of North Western Spam. 



By 



Hans Gadow 9 Ph. D. ; M. A. ; F. R. S. 



Cambridge. 



With plate 12 and 1 text figure. 



The following notes are based upon observations made in the 

 summer 1892 whilst travelling with my wife in the north western 

 provinces of Spain. The Vierzo district, and above all the western 

 portion of the Cantabrian chain of mountains areaterra incognita 

 to the naturalist. 



The Vierzo is, roughly speakiüg, the western corner of the pro- 

 vince of Leoo. The Cantabrian mountains divide it towards the North 

 from the province of Oviedo, towards the West from that of Lugo in 

 Galicia. The only high road, which connects Leon with Galicia leads 

 across the Pass of Piedrafita, to the North of which lies the Sierra 

 de Picos, to the South the Sierra de Caurel. This road was the 

 great highway to Santiago de Compostella, and was crowded in the 

 middle ages, „when times were better", by the thousands of French 

 and German pilgrims, who were anxious to gain the Scallop shell. 

 From these pilgrims Villafranca has received its name, one of the few 

 towns of the Vierzo, close to the site of the old Bergidum (hence 

 Vierzo) of the Romans. 



We made our headquarters at the wretched village of Burbia, 

 2700 feet above the sealevel, on the south eastern slopes of the Sierra 

 de Picos. This Sierra is subalpine in character, some of its peaks rising 

 to a height of 6500 feet. As regards scenery, fauna and flora, this 

 district is a paradise, but exactly the reverse wherever natives and 

 accommodation are concerned. 



