186 Lord Lilford on the Ornithology of Spain. 
brought down the eggs, which were certainly unlike those of 
any Kite that I had ever seen. Manuel assured me that he had 
no doubt whatever as to their being the eggs of A. pennata; but 
to make sure, we waited quietly for the return of the parent 
bird. She did not keep us long in suspense; but, after soaring 
far out of shot for some minutes, enabling us fully to identify 
her species, she dropped perpendicularly on to her empty nest, 
rendering it impossible to obtain a shot. The nest indeed was 
quite as far as Manuel's gun would carry; and though on the 
Eagle leaving it a second time he fired and declared that she 
was a dead bird, I must confess that I believe, for all the harm 
he did to her, she may be, whilst I write, preparing for another 
attempt at establishing her family in New Castile. The Black 
Kite's nest contained three eggs, and in its foundations were 
three nests of the Spanish Sparrow. I may here mention that 
in almost every nest of the two species of Kite, Milvus ictinus 
and M. migrans } which we found in Spain, were one or more 
nests of this Sparrow, besides, in most instances, a large colony 
in the immediate vicinity. We found several nests of the Serin, 
Serinus hortulanus, in the clipped hedges, the odoriferous esta¬ 
blishment of a Hoopoe in a hollow elm, and nests of the Com¬ 
mon Wren, Troglodytes parvulus, Blackbird, and Nightingale in 
various parts of the garden. Whilst sitting with some of the 
gardeners discussing our exploits over a cigarette, a very large 
flock of Bonelli's Eagle passed over to the southwards high in 
air; there was no possibility of mistaking the species, the very 
peculiar shape of the tail, which I have before noticed*, and 
the tawny-red breasts of the immature birds at once serving to 
distinguish them. Manuel told me that he had several times 
previously seen large flights of this species high in air as if on 
migration; but as this Eagle is well known as a permanent 
resident in Spain, it is difficult to account for these large assem¬ 
blages, more particularly at this season of the year. With one 
exception, I never before saw such a congregation of raptorial 
birds, and should be glad to know if such an occurrence has 
come under the observation of any of my readers. 
On the following day we went out to a small lake on the road 
to Ocana, known as El Mar de Aranjuez. In the tamarisk - 
* Ibis, 1860, p. 5. 
