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(lodman). AVe did uot come across the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker {^Dcndiocopm 

 7niiior), which is reported to have occurred at oue time in this district. The 

 only example of this species in the Ponta Delgada Jliisenm is a bird from 

 Portugal ; and though Major Chaves, who takes a keen interest in the matter, 

 has offered rewards and himself been on the look-out for this species for years, 

 no example has ever been forthcoming. I may add that Major ("haves regards 

 the story of its occurrence as a myth ; but Seuhor Jeronymo, the hotel-keeper at 

 Furnas, assured me that, as a boy, he had more than once seen the bird, and 

 remembered it well. 



The remarkable boiling springs at Furnas have often been described, and 

 are too well known to require any remark. Our work was much interfered with 

 by the heavy rain, which was of almost daily occurrence, and made the densely 

 wooded ridges very nnpleasant walking. The ground above Furnas Lake yielded 

 a fair number of Geometers, which were mostly taken at night with a lantern. 

 On the 10th, in pouring rain, we got all onr baggage carried down to the edge 

 of the lake and taken across in a boat, the road at this season being partly under 

 water. Mule-carts had been engaged to meet us on the other side, but the 

 owners being very unwilling to move in the heavy rain, they did not turn up, and 

 we had some difficulty in arranging transport to Ponta Delgada. We returned 

 by the south road and, passing through Villa Franca, arrived at Ponta Delgada 

 late the same evening. On the 21st we moved to the Sete Cidades, the magnifi- 

 cent crater at the west end of San Miguel. Our ascent to the lip of the t'aldeira 

 was unfortunately made in dense mist, so dense that we could see nothing till 

 we descended to the small inn within the crater, which had been hired for us. 

 During the five days spent in these splendid surroundings we encountered some 

 very heavy rain-storms, and only one day was perfectly fine and clear. 



Here, for the first time, we found under stones a few examples of the 

 remarkable Shell-Sing (Ph/foii/a atlantica) jiecnliar to the Azores and not repre- 

 sented in the British Museum collection. Its only living ally is a species found in 

 the Siwalik Hills of Northern Lidia, bnt it has various fossil representatives. The 

 only new bird added to the collection was the Snow-Bunting, which, according to 

 local report, breeds on the high ground ; bnt Major Chaves thinks this statement 

 more than doubtful, as he has never been able to verify if, and in all our 

 wanderings among the tops of the various islands we never came across this 

 bird again. The 25th (if March found ns once more at Ponta Delgada, waiting 

 for the steamer Funchal to take us to Terceira. We filled up the time by getting 

 a nice series of the small Greenfinch and the Goldfinch, both of which frequent 

 the gardens in the neighbourhood of the town. Besides naming the birds in 

 the Ponta Delgada Museum, 1 made a list with notes of all the specimens 

 from the islands, and, with Major Chaves' help, selected a set of duplicate 

 Azorean birds, which were ]irescnted to the British Museum. He wrote 

 many letters on our behalf to his friends on the different islands, requesting 

 them to secure suitable houses for us in the localities to be visited. In this 

 way everything was arranged in advance, and much valuable time saved. The 

 Portuguese people on the Azores are most hospitable, and in only one or two 

 instances were we allowed to pay reut for the houses we occujiied. 



One of the ditliculties in onr future movements was the (jnestion how we 

 were to return from Corvo and Flores, which are the most westerly islands of 

 the group, and situated 150 miles west of Fayal. The Portuguese mail-boat 



