Ornittiology of the Mediterranean. 375 



Mediterranean. In the beginning of April they sometimes 

 arrive in Malta in very large flights during the night. I have 

 also found them roosting in dry spots in the marshes. I take 

 the following from ray notes : — 



June 2nd, 1862, Corfu.— V^'hiht walking by the side of a 

 stream, between dusk and darkness, observed many Owlets. 

 Presently one glided silently from behind me, and settled on the 

 gnarled bark of an olive-tree. I fired, and imagined that I saw 

 it skim along the fern about ten yards off ; however, on running 

 to the spot I could see nothing of it; but " Sailor," after diligently 

 poking his nose about, suddenly rushed at it, which produced a 

 violent hissing and snapping of the bill. Whilst stooping to ad- 

 mire the little fellow's pugnacious attitude, it suddenly aban- 

 doned the defensive and darted off into the darkness; but luckily 

 I saw its horns standing in relief against the sky, again fi-om 

 the branch of an olive-tree : this time I bagged it, and its skin 

 is now safely rolled up and labelled. On dissection it proved to 

 be a female, with two eggs in her ovary. 



10. Rook. [Corvus frugilegus.) 



Very common in Greece during the winter, feeding principally 

 in the plains and marshes ; but I was never able to discover that 

 they nested there. All that 1 shot were young of the year, 

 which leads me to believe that it is only the young Hooks that 

 move to the southward during winter. Some of them cross the 

 Mediterranean, as my friend Mr. C. A. Wright records it as a 

 bird of passage through Malta. 



11. Jackdaw. [Corvus monedula.) 



Common in Malta, where it breeds in the fortifications round 

 the town and in the sandy cliffs of the shore. 



12. Magpie. [Pica caudata.) 



I observed it in Albania during the svimmer, and in abundance 

 both at Missolonghi and Patras during the winter, where two or 

 three of them were generally to be seen anxiously watching the 

 " rooting snouts " of the half- wild pigs, availing themselves of 

 any grubs or worms turned up by them. I have never noticed 

 anything to lead to the idea that these birds migrate. 



