l.oUl) UU'OKl) OX U.U'TUUIAL IJIUUS IN Tlli: ULKOUU AVI.VUIES. o7o 
IVom Jniii in tliu pioviiieo of (luipuzcoa, in the suiniucr of 18JS7. 
Wo staying at .San .Sebastian, and had discovered a large 
colony of (Jrilfons in a range of dill's at a short distance to the 
south-east, but the nests were inaccessible to us, and I could not 
induce a native to attempt a siege. Un mentioning this to 
l\lr. Edward j\larch, who at that time tilled the jmst of British 
'N'ice-Con.sul at .San .Sebastian, lie informed me, tliat he believed 
there must be a Vulture’s nest in the liills ne;ir Irun, its he liad 
fre([uently observed two ( oilfons sailing over a particular valley at 
a few miles from that town, and as there were preciiiices thereabouts, 
he thought we might possibly get at the nest without any great 
dilliculty. He kindly guided me to the top of a steep incline much 
overgrown with thick .scruh. For .some time before reaching this 
eminence we had ob.served two Vultures circling in the air, 
apparently much disturbed, and on peering over the edge of the 
accliviU', were .soon aware of the cau.se of their anxiety, in the 
.shape of a shepherd lad clambering among.st the rocks ami brush- 
wood at a short distance below u.s. We hailed him, ami di.scovered 
that he had taken a young Vulture from the ne.st, and was making 
his way up to us. I gave him a peseta — tenjiencc — for the nestling, 
and with this modest sum, a handful of tobacco, and a cupful of 
wine, he went away delighted, invoking ble.ssings upon u.s. On 
leaving San .Sebastian a few days afterwards, I left the young 
\'ulture at our inn under the special care of the daughters of the 
host; and on sending for it some weeks afterwards, as I returned 
to Paris and England by another route, my me.ssengor assured me 
th.at, in spite of the ungainly appearance and rank smell of the bird, 
it had so won upon the atfections of these kindly damsels, that 
they protested with tears and loud lamentations at being deprived 
of their pet. As a rule the Grilfon breeds in societies of jnany 
})airs, in steep cliffs, and the instance just mentioned is the onl}"^ 
one of an isolated nest that has come to my knowledge. This 
species, as I believe, seldom lays more than one egg, never more 
than two in a sitting. I have seen some specimens with more or 
less markings of ]iale tint colours, but they are generally of a 
spotless white. This Vulture is very abundant in the mountauis 
of European Turkey and Greece, as also in Cyprus, Crete, Sicily, 
.Sardinia, Tunis, and Algeria. iMy bird, probably owing to her 
early education, is very gentle, and I'juietj but objects stronydy if her 
