268 Lieut. R. M. Sperling on the 



them were Crows and the Ih-Jiioh Falcon (No. 1 of these notes). 

 It was a strange sight — a floating island, as it seemed, covered 

 with birds of dismal nature. 



XXI. — Some Account of an Ornithologist's Cruise in the 

 Mediterranean. By Lieut. R. M. Sperling, R.N. 



During a year's cruise in the Mediterranean, I devoted all my 

 spare time to the study of the avifauna of its coasts and islands, 

 a few remarks on which will probably be interesting to some of 

 your readers. Of course the first thing that strikes the observer 

 is the great similarity of the bird-population of this part of Europe 

 to that of our island. The greater quantity of the birds that one 

 observes are of the same species as those that disport them- 

 selves in our own fields, forests, and fens. Goldfinches float 

 amongst the thistles, like gaudy butterflies ; Blackbirds and 

 Thrushes dart warily about amongst the myrtle-bushes ; while 

 flocks of Greenfinches, Linnets, Chaffinches, Larks of various 

 descriptions. Rooks, and Starlings feed in the fields and plains. 

 The Hoopoe, Bee-eater, and Golden Oriole, rare with us, abound 

 in the south of Europe during the summer ; while, owing to the 

 comparative absence of man, numbers of raptorial birds soar 

 over the plains and levy taxes on their friends below. 



Of the game-birds the Woodcock takes the first rank. To- 

 wards the end of November or the beginning of December they 

 come down in thousands from the north of Europe, spreading 

 themselves over all the coverts on the south shore : some go as 

 far as the islands of the Mediterranean, and a few even reach the 

 north coast of Africa. Snipe and all kinds of wild-fowl are in 

 great abundance during the winter. The Red-legged Partridge 

 is plentiful on the hill-sides in Greece, some of the Ionian 

 Islands (Meganisi especially), and many other parts of the coast ; 

 but shooting them is hard work, the locomotion being more 

 adapted for the Kangaroo than anything else, as it principally 

 consists in jumping from one boulder to another, over inter- 

 vening bushes ; and when the birds get up, you will probably be 

 struggling on your back in a hole. Add to these pleasures a 

 blazing hot sun, and you have a pretty good idea of Red-leg 



