Wild Spain (España agreste) Records of Sport with Rifle, Rod, and Gun, Natural History Exploration — Inside the Classic

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In Category - Birds

Authors: Chapman, Abel, 1851-1929, Buck, Walter John, 1843-1917 Digital Source: Project Gutenberg Gutenberg Release Year: 2011 First Publication Year: Not confirmed

Key Word: Hunting -- Spain; Game and game-birds -- Spain Target Reader: Readers of public-domain and historical texts

Book Edition: Project Gutenberg digital edition Book Language: en

Edition facts

Words 145,165

Reading time 632 min

Text sections 18

For Wild Spain (España agreste) Records of Sport with Rifle, Rod, and Gun, Natural History Exploration — Inside the Classic, the stored edition analysis reports 145,165 words, 10 hr 32 min estimated reading time, and 18 detected text sections.

The text analysis averages about 25.2 words per sentence, while the detected sections provide another way to judge how the source is divided.

Project Gutenberg metadata also associates the work with “Hunting -- Spain,” connecting these edition facts with the source record’s subject description.

Source: Project Gutenberg record #38201

Abel Chapman and Walter J. Buck's 1893 narrative blends natural history observation with hunting accounts across Andalucía and western Spain, using seasonal structure and precise, sensory language to depict landscapes, bird behavior, and the authors' field methods.

Editorial Edition Score 4.9/5

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Title & short description10 pts
Source metadata20 pts
Text length15 pts
Chapters / structure15 pts
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Edition quality

File: pg38201

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AN UNKNOWN CORNER OF EUROPE.

ANDALUCIA AND HER MOUNTAIN-BARRIERS.

ii. Life in the Sierras 13

iii. A night at a _Posada_ 19

A BOAR-HUNT IN THE SIERRA 23

BIG DAYS WITH BUSTARD.

ii. Santo Domingo--an Idyl 50

THE FIGHTING BULL OF SPAIN;

Notes on his history: his breeds and rearing: and his life up to the _encierro_--_i.e._, the eve of his death 54

THE BÆTICAN WILDERNESS.

Spring-notes of bird-life, natural history and exploration in the marisma

THE BÆTICAN WILDERNESS (_continued_).

WILD CAMELS IN EUROPE 94

AMONG THE FLAMINGOES.

Notes on their haunts and habits, and the discovery of their nesting-places 102

SKETCHES OF TWO ROBBER-TYPES.

i. Vizco el Borje 116

Notes on its natural history, haunts, habits and distribution 128

IBEX-SHOOTING IN SPAIN.

i. Sierra de Gredos (Old Castile) 140

ii. Riscos de Valderejo 150

IBEX-SHOOTING IN SPAIN (_continued_).

iii. Sierra Bermeja (Mediterranean) 157

iv. Nevada and the Alpujarras. Ten days in a snow-cave 166

TROUT AND TROUTING IN SPAIN.

TROUTING IN THE ASTURIAS AND IN LEON 183

EXPERIENCES WITH EAGLES.

i. Forest and plain 188

FURTHER EXPERIENCES WITH EAGLES AND VULTURES.

ii. Chiefly relating to the Sierra 205

ON SPANISH AGRICULTURE.

i. Cereals, green crops, etc. 220

ON SPANISH AGRICULTURE (_continued_).

iii. Horse-breeding and live stock 233

BIRD-LIFE OF THE SPANISH SPRING-TIME.

i. The _pinales_, or pine-region 238

BIRD-LIFE OF THE SPANISH SPRING-TIME (_continued_).

ii. The cistus-plains and prairies 250

BIRD-LIFE OF THE SPANISH SPRING-TIME (_continued_).

iii. By lake and lagoon 266

Notes on the history of the "Gitanos" 277

THE SPANISH GYPSY OF TO-DAY 287

IN SEARCH OF THE LÄMMERGEYER.

A winter ride in the Sierras 293

THE HOME OF THE LÄMMERGEYER 307

RAMON AND THE TWO BIG RAMS.

An incident of Ibex-stalking 316

THE IBEX-HUNTER'S BETROTHAL 320

ON VITICULTURE IN SPAIN AND PORTUGAL 325

SOME FURTHER NOTES ON THE GREAT BUSTARD.

His natural history and habits 338

THE LITTLE BUSTARD 343

A WINTER CAMPAIGN IN DOÑANA 348

WILDFOWLING IN THE WILDERNESS.

WILDFOWLING IN THE WILDERNESS (_continued_).

ii. A dry season (flight-shooting) 384

iii. An Arctic winter 392

THE STANCHION-GUN IN SPAIN 395

DEER-DRIVING IN THE PINE-FORESTS.

WINTER IN THE MARSHES.

i. Snipe-shooting 417

ii. Cranes, storks, and bitterns 420

iii. Miscellaneous marsh-birds 424

DEER-STALKING AND "STILL-HUNTING."

On the Southern plains 428

THE LARGE GAME OF SPAIN AND PORTUGAL,

With notes on other Spanish Mammalia 437

The Roebuck in Spain 439

Smaller beasts 447 _et seq._

SPRING-MIGRANTS TO SPAIN,

With dates of arrival, etc., in Andalucia 450

i. Spring-notes in Navarre 454

ii. Supplementary notes on birds (Southern Spain) 457

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

i. Map of Spain and Portugal _Frontispiece_

ii. Relics of the Moors--Ruins of the Watch-tower of Melgarejo _To face_ 6

A _choza:_ the home of the Andalucian peasant 13

iii. Pair of Civil Guards--Jerez _To face_ 14

iv. Daughters of Andalucia _To face_ 19

Dancers with castanets 20

A village _posada_ 21

Our quarters in the Sierra 26

A straight charge (wild boar) 30

v. "That old tusker" (wild boar) _To face_ 31

A mule with trappings 32

vi. Bustards on the barrens--winter;--a first shade of suspicion _To face_ 33

vii. Watering the cattle--summer-time _To face_ 35

Great Bustard--_echando la rueda_ 39

viii. Bustard-driving--the pack come "well in" _To face_ 40

Great Bustards--an April dawn 43

ix. " " --among the spring-corn _To face_ 48

The Bustard-shooter--triumph! 51

x. Ancient draw-well on the plains _To face_ 52

xi. Bulls on the plains _To face_ 57

xii. The morn of the Fight--Bulls in the _toril_ (Miura's breed) _To face_ 61

xiii. The _Encierro_ _To face_ 65

Fishing-boat on the Guadalquivir 78

Flamingoes 74, 102 and 115

Avocets 77, 82 and 87

xiv. Booted Eagle _To face_ 81

xv. Pintailed Sand-Grouse _To face_ 85

Grey Plovers--summer-plumage 89

xvi. The Spanish Wild Camels--our first sight of a couple in the marisma _To face_ 94

xvii. Wild Camels--seen through the binoculars _To face_ 98

Flamingoes on feed 104

A right-and-left at Flamingoes 106

A toilet in the wilderness (Flamingoes) 109

Flamingoes and nests 111

xviii. Flamingoes on their nests _To face_ 112

Civil Guards--a sketch from life 121

Draw-well at the Zumajo, near Jerez 127

Spanish Ibex, Old Ram--Sierra de Gredos 131

---- ---- ---- Sierra Nevada 133, 135, and 170

xix. On the crags of Almanzór (Ibex) _To face_ 137

Old olive-trees near Talavera 139

xx. Ibex-hunting--a sketch in the Sierra de Gredos _To face_ 141

Our first old Ram 145

xxi. Ibex-hunting--the two old Rams at the "Cannon-Rock" _To face_ 148

The peaks of Gredos 149

xxii. Our camp on the Riscos de Valderejo _To face_ 152

Ibex-hunters of Gredos--a sketch by the camp-fire 154

Ibex, female--Riscos de Valderejo 155

---- ---- Bermeja 158

xxiii. Ibex-hunting--a sketch in the Sierra Bermeja _To face_ 161

Forest Ibex, old Ram--Bermeja 164

Trout 175, 182, and 186

Spanish Imperial Eagle 190, 198, and 219

---- ---- (Spotted stage) 193

---- ---- The Eagle's swoop 262

Black Vulture 201 and 202

At roost--Serpent-Eagles 204

xxiv. A Vulture's banquet _To face_ 206

Griffon Vulture and nest--Puerta de Palomas 208

Strange neighbours (Vultures and Storks) 209

xxv. "Where the carcase is" _To face_ 213

Bonelli's Eagle (adult) 217 and 383

xxvi. Ploughing with oxen _To face_ 221

Wooden ploughshare 224

xxvii. The harvest-field _To face_ 225

xxviii. Threshing corn with mares _To face_ 226

xxix. Winnowing _To face_ 228

"Waiting for death" (old olive-trees) 232

xxx. Kites and Marsh-Harriers _To face_ 242

xxxi. Sand-dunes and _Corrales_ of Doñana _To face_ 245

A serenade (Red-leg Partridge) 251

Azure-winged Magpies 258

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From its opening pages, Wild Spain establishes a distinctive dual voice: the authors present themselves as sportsman-naturalists, a stance that shapes both the book's content and its tone. The preface explicitly states that the work 'systematically avoids the beaten track' of history and architecture, instead focusing on 'wild-life and feræ naturæ'—a phrase that, with a slight stretch, includes brigands and gypsies alongside ibex and bustard. This framing immediately signals that the reader will encounter a Spain observed through the lens of field experience, not library research.

The narrative voice is consistently grounded in sensory detail and practical knowledge. Descriptions of sand-hills that 'produce nectar' yet remain 'shifty and unstable' reveal a writer attentive to paradox and physical texture. Bird notes are 'hushed during the midday heat,' and the arrival of migrants is tracked with specific dates and numbers—'a conspicuous "through transit" of Pied Flycatchers' on April 13th. Such precision, drawn from twenty years of expeditions, gives the prose an authority that never feels generic.

Seasonal Rhythm and Narrative Pace

The book's structure follows the seasons, beginning with spring, and this framework controls the pacing. Early chapters lean toward natural history, with longer, more meditative passages—such as the description of a stone-pine's deserted eyrie and the 'silence' of the midday forest. The prose slows to accommodate observation: the reader is invited to sit with the authors as they note the 'strident kark, kark of the Raven' and the 'musical scream of a Kite.'

Later sections shift toward more action-driven accounts of hunting, and the pace accelerates accordingly. The authors acknowledge this change, noting that 'the latter half is more exclusively devoted to sport.' Yet even in faster passages, the naturalist's eye remains: a woodpecker's eviction by a Little Owl is described with the same care as a stalk after ibex. The seasonal structure thus becomes more than an organizing device—it mirrors the authors' own movement between patient watching and active pursuit.

This alternation of tempo is one of the book's quiet strengths. The reader experiences the long, still afternoons of spring birding and the sudden bursts of action in the hunting chapters, creating a rhythm that feels organic to the landscape described.

Voice and the Observer's Position

The narrative voice in Wild Spain is consistently that of a participant, not a detached reporter. The authors use first-person plural—'we have undertaken,' 'we enjoy the midday rest'—and frequently place themselves within the scene: 'Immediately below where we sit, the ridge terminates.' This positioning gives the reader a sense of shared presence, as if accompanying the authors on their expeditions.

Yet the voice is also self-aware about its limitations. The preface admits that 'many a blank day and fruitless effort' are omitted, and that the authors select 'the more fortunate records.' This honesty about selection tempers any impression of effortless success. The tone remains understated: a 'rather curious eviction' of a woodpecker by an owl is recounted without moralizing, and the authors' decision not to intervene is presented as a practical choice, not a philosophical stance.

The language is precise but not florid. Birds are identified by scientific names in parentheses—C. glandarius, L. meridionalis—but these never interrupt the flow of observation. The result is a voice that feels both expert and companionable, rooted in the specificities of Spanish wilds.

Landscape as Active Presence

In Wild Spain, landscape is not a static backdrop but an active force. Sand-hills are described as having 'masses' that 'elect to move onwards' and 'engulf forests,' a verb choice that attributes agency to geological processes. The image of pines 'entombed to their centres, alive, but struggling in their death-throes' gives the scene a dramatic, almost violent energy. This is a world where the ground itself shifts and consumes.

The authors' attention to such details reveals a naturalist's understanding of process: the sand is 'the sandstone of a future age,' and beneath the present surface lie 'skeletons of buried forests of bygone days.' Time is layered into the description, compressing centuries into a single vista. Similarly, bird movements are tracked as flows—Swallows 'sweeping along the open glades' one day, gone the next—emphasizing the transience of life in these habitats.

This treatment of landscape gives the book a geological and ecological depth that goes beyond mere setting. The reader is constantly reminded that the wild Spain the authors explore is not a fixed place but a dynamic system, shaped by forces both visible and hidden.

Readers approaching Wild Spain will find a work that rewards attention to its language and structure. The seasonal organization provides a natural entry point, but the book's real interest lies in the interplay between patient natural history and active sport. Pay particular attention to how the authors shift between these modes, and how their descriptions of landscape and animal behavior are never merely decorative—they carry the weight of twenty years of field experience. The result is a record that feels both personal and authoritative, a document of a Spain that has since changed, captured in prose that remains vivid.

Chapman and Buck’s patient wintering sketches in Wild Spain always made me think of how a familiar hedge can hide its secrets until someone sits still enough. That same unhurried attentiveness — birdsong marking the hours rather than clocks — returns in Among the Birds in Northern Shires — Edition Insights, a quieter companion for steady hands and long afternoons. Two books, same old kindness.