266 Lord Lilford — Notes on 



but ran round the south-eastern point of the island, and 

 anchored in a fine bay with a few scattered cottages and small 

 chapel near the beach at its head. The name of this place 

 is given as Acona on our Admiralty charts, but is entirely 

 ignored by the natives, who, so far as we could make out, are 

 quite content that their habitation should remain unnamed and 

 unknown to the outside world. This south coast of Elba is 

 very bold and high, with finely and variously coloured cliff's, 

 steep to the water's edge in many places, and deep bays with 

 good anchorage and shelter from all but southerly winds. 

 The hills are scantily cultivated, and, according to the very 

 few inhabitants with whom we had any chance of parley, 

 produce little but iron in abuadance, a thin wine, and a few 

 Partridges {Caccabis riifa). Our own explorations were 

 almost exclusively confined to boat-cruises along the foot of 

 the cliffs. Birds were remarkably scarce ; a comparatively 

 small number of Rock Doves frequent the coast, which is most 

 admirably adapted to their habits ; the ubiquitous Mediter- 

 ranean Blue Rock Thrush {Monticola cyanus) here and there 

 greeted us with his characteristic notes and actions of surprise 

 and curiosity; a Neophron, two or three Falcons, probably Fa/co 

 punicus (of which much more anon) , Kestrels, Crag Martins 

 {Cotyle riqjestris), a pair of Ravens, a very few Herring 

 Gulls, and two Shags were about all the birds observed by 

 us during our first day^s examination of these shores. The 

 absence of Gulls and other sea-haunting and rock-breeding 

 species was most remarkable, and only to be accounted for 

 presumably by an equally remarkable absence of fishes — a 

 fact of which the natives assured us, and of which we were con- 

 vinced, not only by the absence of fish-eating birds, but by the 

 entire absence of Seals, for which animals these cavernous 

 rocks seemed in other respects most admirably suited. We 

 discovered the nest of the above-mentioned Ravens, but the 

 rock in which it was built was so friable that I did not like 

 to risk the life or limbs of any of the volunteer cragsmen of 

 my crew by attempting a formal siege. On shooting a Rock 

 Dove in one of the crannies of the cliff's to the westward of 

 our anchorage, I noticed that three or four of tlie Crag 



