Wild Spain Part 14

As already mentioned, we have observed these rich-coloured tawny eagles on many occasions during the winter months. The forest-guards distinguish them from the young Imperial Eagles, saying they were most numerous in winter. Casual observation is not, of course, of much value on fine points, and we give their opinion for what it may be worth. The late Crown Prince Rudolph of Austria also appears to have found a tawny eagle nesting in Andalucia ("Sport and Ornithology," p. 491), but did not secure the birds.

It seems probable that a large tawny-coloured eagle--whether the African _A. rapax_, or otherwise--_does_ breed in Southern Spain, though sporadically both as to time and place, the wooded districts around Cordova being the most likely locality.

So far, with slight modifications, we have left this chapter as written some little time ago; but, since then, we have had further eagle-experiences (in the spring of 1891), which throw some new light on the vexed questions referred to. For we have now placed beyond doubt the fact that the Spanish Imperial Eagle _does_ breed in--what is considered to be--its "immature" dress; but which would probably be more correctly expressed by saying that individuals of this species never develope that black-and-white plumage which has. .h.i.therto been regarded as the invariable adult state.

On February 26th we heard of an eagle's nest at a spot called the Algaida del Gato, and were a.s.sured that, while the female-owner was black--_de las negras_--her male partner was _pardo_, _i.e._, tawny. The date, it may be noted, is just a month earlier than we had imagined these birds usually breed; but on the 28th February this nest certainly contained two white eggs; and, as certainly, the male eagle was _tawny_: his partner an ordinary black-plumaged adult. The latter we could have killed half a dozen times; but the male, realizing, it may be, the interesting problem which centred itself on his person, gave us no small trouble ere at last he fell to a long and lucky shot on the wing. His skin now lies before us--pale tawny chestnut in ground colour, sprinkled with darker feathers all over, and with _white shoulders_.

A few days afterwards (March 4th), a second pair were discovered breeding on a big stone-pine in a different district. In this case the _female_ was tawny, the male black. We watched the pair, with the gla.s.s, at moderate range, for half an hour, and Manuel de la Torre afterwards told us they had pa.s.sed over his head within twenty yards, leaving no doubt as to their respective colours. There was thus no necessity to shoot them. As it is we fear we may be blamed, for to exterminate a species in order to clear up some obscure fact in its biology is to commit a crime under the guise of science; but we have not been guilty in this or any other instance of needless slaughter; and, in Spain, be it added, eagles are "vermin" upon whose heads a price is set. The few shot by us are now valuable and cherished specimens; otherwise they might, and probably would have, been uselessly destroyed, the beautiful birds left to rot where they fell.

In April we saw a third example in the hands of a naturalist at Malaga--a tawny female (without sign of white on shoulders), which we were told (and do not doubt) was shot from her nest in that province the preceding week.

The veteran Manuel de la Torre, a cla.s.sic name in Spanish ornithology, and one of the keenest and most observant men we ever met, who has spent the greater part of his seventy years in the destruction of eagles, foxes, wolves, and other _animales daninos_--noxious beasts--laughed at our enthusiasm over this "discovery," saying that he had known of the fact all his life, and had shot "tawny" Imperials from their nests before we were born! He a.s.serted that these eagles do not ever, necessarily, attain the black state; they may live 100 years and yet not advance beyond the tawny, or "piebald" stages. Good luck and long life to this dear old man, whose cheery face and voice and ready guitar have been the life and soul of our camp on some wild nights in the sierra!

[Ill.u.s.tration: SPANISH IMPERIAL EAGLE. (Adult Male, shot May 6th, 1883.)]

This discovery leaves the position thus:--The Spanish Imperial Eagle _does_ breed indiscriminately, whether in the typical adult livery of black and white, or in any of the various stages of mottled and piebald.

But we are still ent.i.tled to the opinion, hereinbefore expressed, that there _also_ breeds--though rarely--in Spain a true _tawny_ eagle--_Aq.

rapax_, or otherwise. The grounds for this opinion are that the bird we consider to be the Tawny Eagle is of different type and build, besides being of a darker and richer colour--always uniform, whereas the Imperial Eagles breeding in the pale plumage are invariably spotted, or "marbled."

In leaving the Imperial Eagle we annex weights and dimensions of five examples killed by us:--

Weight. Expanse. Length.

Male, adult (tawny) 8-3/4 lbs. 75-1/2 in. 30 in.

" " (black) 8-1/2 " 74-3/4 " 29-1/2 "

Female " " 9-3/4 " 80-1/2 " 34-3/4 "

" " " 10-1/4 " 82 " 36 "

" " " 10-1/4 " 82-1/4 " 36 "

Of the Booted Eagle (_Aquila pennata_) and the Serpent-Eagle (_Circaetus gallicus_), both of which are more or less numerous spring-migrants to Spain, we have treated elsewhere, and need only add that all our specimens of the Booted Eagle (both s.e.xes) are of the _pale_ variety with shaded brown back, a broad light bar across either wing, and white, streaked breast.

The Spotted Eagle (_Aquila naevia_) we have never personally met with: though Arevalo (_Aves de Espana_, p. 58) describes it as not uncommon, nesting in crevices of rocks among the wooded mountains, and frequenting the rice-swamps of Valencia.

The White-tailed Sea-Eagle (_Haliaeetus albicilla_) according to Spanish authorities, is also found on pa.s.sage and in winter. Manuel de la Torre gave us its name as "_Aguila leona_," but we have never seen it in Spain at any season.

On January 4th, 1888, we made the acquaintance of another fine species, one of the largest of the feathered race, under the following circ.u.mstances:--We were partridge-shooting, and before our advancing line observed soaring over the plain a pair of enormous birds, which we took for the largest Imperial Eagles we had ever seen. B. had always held that those I had previously shot here (as just related) were of small size, and that there existed, on the Andalucian _rega_, eagles of twice their dimensions. Here at last we were in presence of a pair of these stupendous eagles, and my anxiety to take the offensive--however remote or impossible its chance of success--knew no bounds. The pursuit of partridge, quail and hare--even the approaching _avero_--faded into insignificance, and these huge birds monopolized all attention.

Presently one--the larger--pa.s.sed outside the line, and after almost interminable aerial sweeps settled slowly down to the summit of a small wild-olive. At once we called up one of our wild-fowlers, who, with his trained _cabresto_ pony, was close at hand. The pony was divested of saddle and bridle, and with only a halter and a cord to his near fore-knee--preparations which told him distinctly enough the nature of the business in hand--was ready for action. Away we went, Vasquez crouching behind the shoulder, myself behind the quarter, and holding with my right hand by his tail. By this device we arrived, unnoticed, to a range of forty yards--nearer we could not get by reason of a marshy creek with steep, slimy banks. I therefore at once despatched the charge of treble A, right for the monster's head. The effect was unmistakable--he rolled over to the shot, and fell to earth. But those huge wings never ceased to work, and a second dose of slugs (on the ground) had no visible effect. From mere spasmodic flapping the great bird gradually recovered control, and a few seconds later was distinctly flying--very low, but still clearly on the wing and departing. For nearly a mile he flapped along, never a yard above the scrub--then settled, on the very edge of the water. We followed, and when I next raised my eyes over the pony's quarter, there, within six yards, stretched out flat on the bare mud, lay our victim. His head lay prostrate, but his eye still brightly watched us. Hard and impervious to shot as I well knew these great raptores to be, I was hardly prepared to see him rise again, and could not have believed what followed. Not only did he rise on wing, but received two more charges of treble A--mould-shot as big as peas--at a range of under twenty yards, without wincing, and after that, flew full 200 yards before finally collapsing: then at last he fell, stone-dead.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BLACK VULTURE. (Adult Male, shot January 4th, 1888.)]

Our trophy was not an eagle after all! but one of those giant birds, the Black Vulture (_Vultur monachus_), measuring a trifle under ten feet in expanse of wing, and scaling roughly between two and three stones. I need hardly add that I had at once recognized the species on rising to fire the first time; and though it was somewhat of a disappointment, it at least settled the question respecting these fabulously large eagles.

This bird proved a magnificent specimen, a male, 9 feet 9 inches across the wings: the irides were dark, legs and feet whitish, claws black: the cere and bare skin in front of neck bluish colour, tail pointed.[42] The whole plumage was deep black-brown, the head covered with short downy feathers, and the bird had no offensive smell like the common vultures.

This species is, indeed, of far n.o.bler aspect than the Griffon, showing in life none of the repulsive bare neck of that bird, the neck being entirely hidden in the ruff of long lanceolate plumes which surround it, and on the wing it has a majestic appearance.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BLACK VULTURE. "GETTING UNDER WEIGH."]

A few days afterwards we had a similar experience with another, which we stalked, sitting amongst some rough hummocky ridges: it seems all but impossible to kill these huge raptores outright. Their hard muscular frames and sinews, tough as steel-wire, appear impervious to shot, and unless a pellet chances to take the wing-bone, they will go on, though struck in a dozen places. One realizes this on attempting to skin one of the larger eagles--an operation not unlike trying to dissect a piano.

The Black Vulture we have never found actually breeding in Andalucia, though it does do so: and we have observed single pairs, a.s.sociated with Griffons, in the sierras in May and July. Its chief nesting stronghold is in the Castiles, where, in the Sierra de Gredos, we found an eyry with young in May. This nest was on a pine. In the south the Black Vulture is chiefly a winter bird.

The curious diversity of character displayed by the various raptores when captured, deserves a word of notice. At the end of May, after six or eight weeks' eagle-hunting, we had about a dozen large birds of prey which were kept in a disused room. There was a mighty commotion when any one entered--a couple of Serpent-Eagles ceaselessly flapped and scuffled, while Booted Eagles showed fight, and Marsh-Harriers, backing into convenient corners, stood facing one with outstretched wings, like snarling cats all teeth and claws, and shrieking defiance in wailing tones. The Kites, on the contrary, might all have been dead, so limp and lifeless they lay, flat on the floor, with gaping beak and protruding tongue. One winged Kite we kept alive in the grounds at Jerez for years, but though practically at liberty, he invariably feigned death or deadly sickness when approached. Five minutes afterwards, nevertheless, he was quite game to tackle one of our chickens! In the midst of the din and flutter sat the Imperial Eagle, silent, motionless, and unconcerned; perched on the carcase of a Flamingo, his flat shapely head turned slowly as the keen eye followed every movement of the intruder, whose presence he otherwise disdained. The Tawny Eagle (above mentioned) displayed in captivity even greater _insouciance_ and a n.o.bler demeanour than the Imperial, while both birds, heavy and ma.s.sive as they looked, exhibited marvellous agility in pouncing upon the luckless rat who might presume to trespa.s.s upon their domain and attempt to steal their food.

Such are some of our experiences of the eagles of the Spanish lowlands.

The Imperial Eagle is, _par excellence_, the monarch of the plain--resident throughout the year (though the young are known, occasionally, to cross the Pyrenees into France), and in his varied phases comparatively common. Next in importance comes a large tawny eagle of, as yet, undefined specific rank, which, for the reasons above set forth, we consider ent.i.tled to a place in the list. Then, in spring, come the Booted and Serpent-Eagles from Africa to nest on Spanish soil and prey on its abundant reptile-life. But in winter two other species descend from their mountain-homes to prey on the game and wildfowl of the lowlands. These are the Golden Eagle and Bonelli's Eagle--both described more particularly in the next chapter--of which we have shot specimens on the plains during the winter months. The two Golden Eagles now in the Zoological Gardens were both shot by us in the flat country, or _campina_, in the neighbourhood of Jerez de la Frontera--one winged as it flew to roost in the _pinales_ of Los Inglesillos, the other by a chance shot in the rough, broken country beyond Garciagos.

[Ill.u.s.tration: AT ROOST--SERPENT-EAGLES.]

CHAPTER XVII.

FURTHER EXPERIENCES WITH EAGLES AND VULTURES.

II.--CHIEFLY RELATING TO THE SIERRA.

On a hot May morning we lay beneath the shade of palms and eucalypti in the garden at Jerez, watching the gyrations of Kestrels, Swifts, and Bee-eaters, and lazily listening to the soft bird-chorus--an infinite, s.p.a.ce-filling refrain from myriad Nightingales, Serins, and Gold-finches--to the spondee of Hoopoe and dactyl of Quail. Presently there appeared, far overhead, some half-dozen Griffon Vultures wheeling in immense circles, the huge birds dwarfed by the alt.i.tude to mere specks. Then another stratum, still higher, was detected, and afterwards a keen eye distinguished a third, and then a fourth, beyond the average range of human vision. How many more tiers of soaring vultures might yet occupy the regions of unseen s.p.a.ce beyond, cannot be told: but the incident serves to ill.u.s.trate the system on which Nature's great scavengers patrol the land. The lower strata we estimated at 800 to 1,000 yards alt.i.tude, and these only, it is probable, are on active service, the upper tiers merely standing by, ready to profit by the discoveries of all the working parties that may be in sight beneath them: for at the enormous elevations of the uppermost birds, it is impossible to suppose that even a vulture's eye could detect so small an object as, say, a dead goat on the earth.

There is something peculiarly impressive in the appearance of these colossal birds and in the automaton-like ease of their flight. Ponderous bodies appear suspended in mid-air without visible effort or exertion--the great square wings extended, rigid and motionless, filled with air like the wands of a wind-mill, enable them to rest on s.p.a.ce, to soar for hours, as it were, by mere volition. How all the vultures manage to find subsistence is a problem, for even in Spain the earth is not strewn with carcases, as on a battle-field.

Towards a certain point of the evergreen plain of palmetto, there is a visible concentration of soaring forms: thither a string of creaking _carros_ has conveyed to their last resting-place some dead horses, the victims of Sunday's bull-fight. Thither flock the vultures to hold high carnival: and a striking sight it is to watch perhaps forty or fifty, as they soar and wheel in as many opposing, concentric circles, gradually focussing themselves over the point of attraction. But as they fold their wings and gather in a seething ma.s.s around the carrion, all that was majestic and imposing disappears--as they tear open the flanks and, with spluttering growls and gurgles, and flapping of huge wings, dive their great bare necks into the innermost penetralia, the spectacle changes to the repulsive. Yet, as the only existing system of scavengers, they are performing a useful office. Quickly swells the crowd: from every quarter come more and more--the heavens seem alive with hurrying forms sweeping down to the banquet. As the earlier arrivals become satiated, they withdraw a few yards from the revels to enjoy the state of rare repletion, perched on a neighbouring tree or hillock, where they sit with distended crop, fluffed-out feathers and half-closed wings, gorged to the last mouthful, but making room for fresh comers, hungry as they had been before. Thus within a few hours the luckless horses have found a tomb, and when the Griffons have left nothing but bare bones, then another feathered scavenger appears, the Neophron, or in Spanish _Quebranta-huesos_, _i.e._, the bone-smasher, who sets diligently to work to loosen the ligaments and tear the skeleton asunder. Then, one by one, the bones are carried off and broken by being dropped from a height upon the rocks, when the fragments are devoured: thus the earth is cleansed of corrupting matter.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate XXIV.

A VULTURES' BANQUET.

Page 200.]

Vultures, though found all over Spain--whether in mountain, marsh, or plain--breed only in the sierras. We have observed them in every province from Guipuzcoa to Galicia, and from Asturias to Mediterranean; but nowhere do they so greatly abound as in Andalucia, and especially in that wild mountain-region which forms the southernmost apex of Europe.

Here they may fairly be said to swarm, and in our many campaigns in these sierras we have had abundant opportunities of observing them "at home." Here the Griffon Vultures build their broad flat nests on shelves and ledges of the crags, or in caves in the face of sheer walls of rock, many of which exceed 2,000 feet in vertical alt.i.tude. The little town of Grazalema is perched on the verge of one of these stupendous _tajos_; from the window of the _posada_ one can drop a pebble to invisible depths, midway down which a colony of _Buitres_ have had their eyries from time immemorial. The hill-villages of Arcos, El Bosque, Villa Martin, and Bornos, all present similar instances--man seeking the highest apex, the vultures its middle heights, beyond reach of bullet from above or below. Ronda, too, has its _tajo_, but we do not recollect seeing any vultures breeding actually beneath the town.

The Griffons commence repairing their nests as early as January--we have watched them carrying claw-fulls of gra.s.s and cut branches from places where charcoal-burners had been lopping the trees, on January 21st; a single large white egg is laid in February, incubation lasts forty days, and a naked, blue-skinned chick is hatched early in April. The young vultures are of extremely slow growth, spending full three months in the nest. By mid-May they are as big as Guinea-fowls: ungainly-looking creatures, all crop and maw, with feathers beginning to show through the thick white down.

[Ill.u.s.tration: GRIFFON VULTURE AND NEST. (Puerta de Palomas.)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: STRANGE NEIGHBOURS.]

Palomas, whose crags were tenanted by numerous Griffons, and the strange growls made by them on returning to their eyries was often the first sound heard on awakening. Once at that period (May) we were imprisoned in the Sierra de Ubrique, both our animals having fallen lame through loss of shoes, and it was with no small difficulty we eventually extricated ourselves from the heart of those rugged, pathless mountains.

During four days and nights we were encamped in the wild pa.s.s of the Puerta de at daybreak, in our roofless bedroom among the boulders, mingled with the awakening notes of the Blue-thrush and Alpine chough.

These nests proved to be quite the easiest of access we ever saw--the cliffs being rather a chaotic jumble of big rocks and monoliths than crags proper; and by clambering over these we reached sixteen nests--many very slight affairs, with bare rock projecting through the scanty structure--of which only two held more than a single poult. The nests of the Griffon--albeit malodorous--are always cleanly. These vultures feed their young exclusively on half-digested food which they disgorge from their own crops--hence there is no carrion or putrefying matter lying about, as is the case at the nests of the Neophron and Lammergeyer. It is the male vulture only that, at this season, undertakes lengthened journeys into the plains and low-lands, remaining absent for days together in search of supplies, and returning crop-full of unsavoury store. The vultures seen on the distant plains in spring are all males, the females remaining at or near their nests. The sketch on page 209 represents a curious scene. On the treeless plains of the Isla Mayor many vultures roost (in April) on a solitary clump of dead _encinas_, the lower branches and forks of which are also occupied by the nests of five or six pairs of White Storks.

Three of these eyries were situate on abrupt, detached stacks of rock, so easily accessible that we almost "walked" into them. Some years afterwards, pa.s.sing through this sierra on March 1st, we found the three stacks occupied as before, each nest containing a single egg.

During this scramble we came suddenly upon a pair of Eagle-Owls, solemnly dreaming away the hours in a deep cavern; but, being in an awkward position on the crag-face, could not spare a hand to secure them. These caverns were also occupied by Choughs and Rock-Martins (_Cotyle rupestris_), the latter sharing a cave with hundreds of bats.[43]

Eventually, after dragging the lame beasts some twenty miles, we got clear of the sierra, but found that our absence had caused much anxiety at Jerez. On the outward ride, it had so chanced, we were present at a sad accident by which two men and their nine mules lost their lives, while attempting to cross the swollen Guadalete at the Barca Florida.

Consequently we did not attempt the ford, and only reached the sierra after a long detour: but news of the accident having reached Jerez, and our disappearance being unluckily attributed thereto, the curious result was that the first person we met on the _vega_ of Guadalete was honest old Blas, all solemn and dejected, as he endeavoured, by watching the flight of the vultures, to discover our remains!