ORNITHOLOGY 
OF THE 
STRAITS OF GIBRALTAR. 
INTRODUCTION. 
The list of birds and ornitliological notes contained in this 
book are compiled from observations made on both sides of 
the Straits of Gibraltar — on the African side within a region 
extending from Tangier southwards to the lakes of Ras Doura 
beyond Larache, and eastward from Tangier to Tetuan and 
Ceuta, not reaching inland more than ten or twelve miles ; 
on the European side I include that part of Andalucia which 
would be bounded by an imaginary line drawn from Gibraltar 
to Malaga, thence to Granada, Cordova, and Seville, along 
the delta of the Guadalquivir to Cadiz. 
Nearly all the information relating to the birds of the 
Spanish side of the Straits is collected from personal obser- 
vations made during a more or less prolonged stay at the 
Rock, between February 1868 and May 1872, and again from 
February to May 1874, but including during this time only 
one summer period, viz. July, August, and the first half of 
September. For the first three years of my residence at 
Gibraltar I was quartered with my regiment, the remaining 
time being passed there chiefly with a view to ornithological 
pursuits, from time to time making excursions, generally 
of about a fortnight^s duration, to some part or other 
within the districts above mentioned, but chiefly confining 
