Birds. 5315 



study alone, and flying leisurely away. These birds are migratory 

 here, arriving at the beginning of May, and leaving at the end of 

 September or early in October. 



The Golden Oriole (Oriolus galbula) arrives about the same time 

 as the roller, and with it takes its departure. I have seen these birds 

 once or twice only : I obtained a beautiful male and female from Fevier, 

 of Tangier. 



I only obtained one of the Shrikes (Lanius rufusj, and saw no 

 others. Don Machado gives L. excubitor, L. meridionalis, L. Col- 

 lurio and L. minor, as visiting the province : I believe they are all 

 migratory. L. rufus arrived about the end of March, about which 

 time the nightingale arrived in great numbers, enlivening the cork 

 wood with their strains : they must have arrived between the 21st and 

 29th of March, as I had not observed them previously, and I could 

 not have failed to have done so had they been in the country. 



The Hoopoe ( Upupa epopsj arrives in March, and is called the 

 March cock, being exposed for sale in the Gibraltar market. 



Bee-eater (Merops apiaster). First and foremost among the birds 

 of Andalusia must rank the gay and lovely bee-eater : it arrives early 

 in April. I had a good opportunity of judging, as I saw large flocks 

 of from twenty to fifty crossing the Straits of Gibraltar from Africa, 

 and shot two specimens as I was standing on the sands. As soon as 

 they were clear of the sea their clear, shrill note was audible, long be- 

 fore the birds themselves were visible : they fly and hawk for flies 

 much after the manner of swallows, uttering incessantly their wild, 

 clear note. On one occasion I stood under the shade of a large cork 

 tree, and watched some twenty of them hawking in a different manner 

 than usual : they were perched on the summit of a large tree, and 

 would fly a little distance, poising themselves on the wing, after the 

 manner of the fly-catchers, taking their food, and again returning to 

 the spot : I obtained as many specimens as I required, and of course 

 shot no more, having a great reluctance to destroy any bird wantonly. 

 In May, when going up the Guadalquiver to Seville, these birds were 

 breeding in hundreds in the sand-banks overhanging the river : it was 

 most interesting to watch them flying in and out of the holes, like 

 sand martins. I should much have enjoyed landing for an hour, and 

 procuring some of their eggs, but of course that was out of the 

 question. 



The Crossbill (Loxia curvirostra) inhabits this part of Spain. A 

 flock used to frequent my garden, feeding on the fruit of the Arbor 

 Vitae : they were exceedingly tame, and I had a good opportunity of 



