181 
Lord Lilford on the Ornithology of Spain. 
of opinion that the common Falcon of the southern provinces is 
Falco barbarus. 
We left Madrid for Aranjuez on the evening of the 24th 
April, by the Great Southern Railway, and took up our quarters 
at the Fonda de los Ynfantes, which hostelry I can safely re¬ 
commend to any one visiting this summer retreat of Spanish 
royalty. On the following morning, after having paid a visit 
to the “ Administrador,” i. e. manager of the royal domain, for 
the purpose of obtaining his visa to my shooting-licence, we 
sallied out to commence our bird-nesting campaign. Aran¬ 
juez is a small village situated in the valley of the Tagus, near 
the confluence of the Jarama with that river, the country 
around it being, from the abundance of water and consequent 
fertility of its soil, the principal market-garden of the sun- 
scorched and wind-blown capital. Magnificent avenues of elm, 
plane, and oak extend along the roads in all directions; and the 
green meadows and groves of deciduous trees of the royal 
patrimonio , as it is termed, form a most agreeable contrast to 
the sombre olive-yards and the almost unvarying arid and 
tawny plains so characteristic of the central provinces of Spain; 
in fact the crown-property of Aranjuez may with justice be 
called an oasis in the desert; and though its sanitary reputation 
is not high during the summer months, it is the favoured abode 
of the Queen and Court, till the heats of July drive them to 
the pine-forests and snows of San Ildefonso. The patrimonio 
is of great extent, and is one of the most valuable of the many 
private estates of the Spanish crown. Of course, in such a 
thirsty country as Spain, we may take it for granted that where 
there is water there will be birds; and Manuel had given me 
glowing accounts of the great number and variety of birds of 
prey which breed here, and the abundance of wildfowl, Wood¬ 
cocks, and Snipes to be met with during the winter in the 
sotos } or low-lying plains. We crossed the Tagus by a bridge 
just above the palace-gardens; and, stopping awhile to look at 
the camels which are used to carry gravel, weeds, and the like 
to and from the gardens, we strolled along under a glorious 
overarching avenue of planes and oaks on the Madrid road, and 
investigated many a likely-looking hole for nests, without sue- 
