104 Mr. H. M. Drunimond : List of Birds found 



Strix noctua. This is the same species given in a former list of the 

 birds of Corfu under the denomination of 8. passerina : they are 

 common in the olive-groves about Biserta, and on the approach of 

 any one seem easily disturbed, as I constantly savv^ them ifiitting from 

 tree to tree ; probably this may be only during the passage. 



S. brachyotus. A few seen at the ruins of Carthage 21st of May, 

 none afterwards. 



Corvus Cor ax. A pair only of these birds were seen : they breed 

 on the cliffs at Cape Carthage. 



Coracias garrula. 1 Common, though none of the nests of these 



Oriolus Galbula. j birds were found ; they probably breed in 

 this part of the country, as they were always seen in pairs. 



Sturnus unicolor. This is the common starling of the country, 

 and seems (at least at this season of the year) quite to have sup- 

 planted the iS^. vulgaris, which I understand is also found, but pro- 

 bably only in the winter ; their habits as also their song, or rather the 

 chattering and long plaintive whistle of the cock-bird, are precisely 

 the same ; they are very common, especially in the neighbourhood 

 of Biserta ; they build on houses as well as in trees, and are also 

 found in small flocks on the muddy parts of the shores of the lakes, 

 in company with stints and ring dottrels, feeding on the larvae of 

 small marine insects. 



Lanius excubitor. One was shot near Tunis ; it is I suspect very 

 rare, as I have only known of one instance of its being shot at Malta, 

 and have never met with it in the Ionian Islands or Levant. 



L. minor. Only one seen, probably owing to the passage being 

 nearly over. 



L. cucullatus. I obtained a beautiful specimen of this rare bird 

 (at least in Europe) through the kindness of Sir Thomas Reade, 

 H.B.M. Consul General ; it was shot last December along with se- 

 veral others ; they are never seen near the coast, but chiefly frequent 

 the thick brushwood on the sides of the mountains, about twenty 

 miles in the interior, where they are not uncommon. 



L. Collurio *. One individual only : probably rare, as they have 

 never been found in Malta, and are very rare in Corfu. 



L. rutilvs. Most numerous, the olive-groves round Tunis and 

 Biserta being literally filled with them : breed there. 



Muscicapa grisola. Very common : breeds. 



M. albicolUs. Common. 



M. luctuosa. One or two only. 



Turdus Merula. Very common at Biserta, making the woods re- 

 sound with their melody. 



T. cyaneus. Only one seen. 



Sylvia turddides. A few seen in the marshes at Biserta. 



S. palustris. A few seen in the olive -groves. 



* It is singular that these birds, which I have found most numerous in 

 the spring and summer months in Switzerland, and also in some parts of 

 England, where they are not uncommon, should be so rare along the shores 

 of the Mediterranean. Query, as they have not been noticed during the 

 autumn passage, where do they go in winter ? 



