A characteristic that differentiates the Spaniard, north or south, from other (more modern) nationalities, is a comparative indifference in money matters. Now a Spaniard requires money for his daily needs as much as the others; yet he never sinks to the level of total absorption in his pursuit of the dollar. Put that down to apathy, if you will--or to pride; at least there is dignity in the attribute. The leading Spanish newspapers quote the various market fluctuations and changes in value from day to day. Sometimes, possibly, the report may read _sin operaciones_, but never will you see conspicuously protruded, as a main item in the morning's news, the headline "Wall Street." There is (or was) dignity in commerce, and there may yet be readers in England who silently wish that such matters were relegated to their proper position--the monetary columns. [Illustration: TYPES OF SPANISH BIRD-LIFE CETTI'S WARBLER (_Sylvia cettii_) A winter songster, abundant but rarely seen, skulking in densest brakes.] The chief financial flutter that interests is the Government lottery which is held every fortnight, and at which all classes lose their money; but the National Treasury profits to the tune of three millions sterling yearly. Spain is the home of "chance": that element appeals to Spanish character. Thus in bull-fighting (the one popular pastime) the name applied to each of its formulated exploits is _suerte_--chance. * * * * * SPAIN is frequently accused of being a land of _mañana_. Hardly can we call to mind a book on the country in which some play on that word does not figure. But procrastination is not confined to any one country, and in this case the accusers are quite as likely to be guilty as the accused. A characteristic that strikes us as more applicable is rather the reverse--that of taking no thought for the morrow. Let us take an example or two. It is not the custom to repair roads. When, from long use, a road has gradually passed from bad to worse, till at length it has virtually ceased to exist, then it is "reconstruction" that is the remedy. Annual repairs, one may presume, would cost, say half the amount, would preserve continuous utility, and avoid that slowly aggravated destruction that ends finally in a hiatus. But that is not the Spanish way. "Reconstruction" is preferred. The ruthless cutting down of her forests without replanting a single tree has already been quoted. Next take an example or two of the things that lie most directly under the authors' special view, such as game. The ibex--a unique asset, restricted to Spain, and of which any other country would be proud--has been callously shot down without thought for to-morrow, extirpated for ever in a dozen of its former habitats. The redleg--under the murderous system of shooting, year in and year out, over decoy-birds--would be exterminated within three or four years in any other country save this.