668 
MISS M. L. BUXTON ON A TRIP TO SPAIN. 
There were also double pink paeonies, yellow and blue lupins, 
a small blue iris, and countless other small and brilliantly 
coloured flowers. We did not see a great many birds, except 
Hoopoes and Woodchat Shrikes, of which there were quantities. 
As we neared J erez we came into the level country bordering 
the marshes — it was again one sheet of flowers of every 
colour and description, broken by Palmetto scrub. It is all 
over these plains that the finest bulls are reared for the bull 
fighting, and we passed great herds of these black bulls 
looking very picturesque on the plain. We began to look 
out for Bustards and for the first time saw Storks standing 
about near the muddy ponds, and Marsh and Montagu’s 
Harriers hovering and beating about, low over the ground. 
At last we came to the cornland round Jerez, and there, just 
as the sun was setting, we saw one splendid old Bustard 
standing in the corn, fairly near the line. We were not much 
impressed by Jerez itself, and were extremely pleased, when 
shortly after our arrival, my friends walked into our hotel 
and introduced themselves. 
The next day we spent with them, and my host presently 
remarked that if we were really in earnest about the birds, 
he would send us out to his shooting estate for a night, where 
we might see a Flamingo and a few other things. Our joy 
knew no bounds then. We had hardly expected to see even 
a Bustard, but to be told we were to go out to this wonderful 
bit of country seemed almost too good to be true. Accord- 
ingly we changed all our plans, went straight off to Seville 
and Cordova where we had some very enjoyable days, and 
returned to Jerez on the following Wednesday, the 15th. 
However, things were not to go favourably with us at once, 
and not till the 19th did we finally start. All the week there 
had been a strong south-west wind making it impossible for 
us to cross the mouth of the Guadalquivir. 
At last, early on the morning of the 19th, my hostess came 
to me and said we could go. We were not long getting ready 
then, and accompanied by our host and hostess, we caught 
a 9 o’clock train — it actually took us two hours to go a distance 
of nineteen miles — to a place called San Lucar, from where, 
