179 
Lord Lilford on the Ornithology of Spain. 
in full song, and I heard many Wrynecks, Jynx torquilla . We 
obtained two eggs of Oxylophus glandarius from a nest of the 
Common Magpie, in a high oak, and these were the'only eggs 
in the nest. 
At length, on April 15th, I received the long-hoped-for per¬ 
mission to visit the Sitios Reales with a gun, and at the same 
time leave for Manuel to accompany me in my expedition. 
After one or two more visits to the Casa de Campo, on which 
occasions I added several Spotted Cuckoos, Spanish Magpies, 
and a few other species to my collection, we made an expedition 
to El Pardo, a crown-property at about seven miles from 
Madrid, consisting of a small village, a palace, and barracks, 
with an enclosed park some eighteen leagues in circumfer¬ 
ence. This park is in some places thickly wooded with ilex, 
cork, and the like, and is full of game of different kinds—deer, 
wild boars, rabbits, and partridges. In the winter, Woodcocks 
are said to be very abundant in the dense jungle of bramble, 
thorn, and tamarisk on the banks of the Manzanares, which, 
rising in the Sierra de Guadarrama, runs from north-west to 
south-east through the whole extent of this domain. Here we 
stayed for two days, but were prevented by continued rain from 
doing much. We spent hours in pursuit of Potamodus cettii , 
but only succeeded in securing two specimens of this provoking 
but charming warbler. The song somewhat resembles that of 
a Nightingale, but is louder and more thrilling, and generally 
ends abruptly just when one expects the best part of the per¬ 
formance to follow. We searched in vain for the nest of this 
species. Three or four Vultures were almost always in sight. 
Bee-eaters were arriving in myriads, and skimming over the 
country in every direction, high and low; and Spanish Magpies 
were shrieking and chattering from almost every clump of trees. 
We recognized a fine Golden Eagle, Aquila chrysaetus , winging 
his way towards the mountains. Both species of Kite, Milvus 
ictinus and M. migrans, soared about the village on the look-out 
for an unwary chicken; and as evening came on, the cries of three 
species of Owl, Strix flammea, Athene noctua , and Scops giu y 
helped to make night hideous or beautiful, according to the 
fancy of the hearer. These three species are common, and the 
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