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Mr. C. A. Wright's List of the Birds 



III. — List of the Birds observed in the Islands of Malta and Gozo. 

 By Charles A. Wuight. 



The following birds, w4th a few exceptions which are noted, 

 have been observed by me in Malta and the adjacent islands 

 during the last ten or twelve years. As no complete catalogue 

 of the birds of Malta has appeared since that published by Signor 

 Schembri in 1843*, and as in the lapse of twenty years new facts 

 have come imder observation and mistakes become apparent, I 

 have thought a fresh list might prove useful. In this will be 

 found 30 speciest not contained in that of Schembri. These 

 raise the total to 253 species, considering the Sparrows of Malta 

 as belonging to one species {Passer salicicola), and the Motacilla 

 cinereocapilla and M. melanocephala of Bonaparte as varieties of 

 M. flava of Linnaeus. Only ten or twelve species are resident, 

 that is, remain with us all the year round, Malta being merely 

 a resting-place for birds in their periodical migrations across the 

 Mediterranean. 



From Schembri's list should be omitted Vanellus gregarius 

 and Fringilla amadava, both of which were erroneously included, 

 the former on information from ignorant persons, and the latter 

 from the fact of two examples having been taken in Malta many 

 years ago, but which were doubtless escaped captives. Perdix 

 petrosa, Lath., noticed byTemminck and Savi, and Perdix f ran- 



