187 
Lord Lilford on the Ornithology of Spain. 
thickets at one end of the lake we found great numbers of the 
Melodious Willow-Warbler, Hypolais salicaria , of which species 
we obtained many specimens; we also shot a Little Bittern, and 
saw many White- and Grey-headed Wagtails, Motacilla alba and 
Budytes flava, Sandpipers, Actitis liypoleuca i and several pairs 
of Eared Grebes, Podiceps nigricollis. Of this last species we 
obtained two nests with their full complement of eggs, but we 
did not succeed in shooting one of the parent birds. A few 
Wild Ducks, Anas boschas , were breeding in the rushes at the 
lower end of the pool; and in a range of low cliffs at a short 
distance we descried several nests of the Common Kestrel, and 
one of the Haven, Corvus corax; but we had no ropes with us, 
and without them a siege was impossible. The Haven is very 
common throughout Spain: in a nest of this bird which we 
took was one egg of Oxylophus glandarius , with five of the pro¬ 
prietor's. This nest was in a high pine tree about a mile from 
Aranjuez. In the afternoon of the day above mentioned, I rode 
out to a spot on the other side of the village to which the car¬ 
casses of the horses which die in the royal haras are dragged and 
left to rot in the sun; here we found a great concourse of 
carrion-eating birds, consisting of perhaps some twenty or more 
of the Cinereous Vulture, Vultur monachus , a pair or two of 
Griffons, Gyps fulvus, a sprinkling of Egyptian Vultures, many 
Kites of both species, and a great number of Havens. I made 
a long detour to attempt stalking one of the first*named birds, 
which I was anxious to obtain, but in vain; the ground would 
not admit of concealment, and the Ravens acting as sentries 
effectually prevented my success. I here observed, amongst 
many tracks of cats, foxes, badgers, polecats, and other pre¬ 
datory animals, the footprints of the Genet ( Viverra genetta ), 
which is tolerably abundant in Central and Southern Spain. 
Here I must leave off for the present, hoping to have another 
opportunity of recording my further doings in Spanish orni¬ 
thology, and expressing my wish that some far more competent 
naturalist than myself may go out and prosper in Spain. Would 
that I could accompany him ! 
March 1866. 
[To he continued.] 
