Mediterranean Ornithology . 273 



petrosa, on our passage, and seeing a few Black-headed 

 Warblers amongst the evergreen scrub which clothes the 

 greater part of this wild abode of the old Italian hero. I 

 may here mention that our old pilot, whose name has escaped 

 me, but whom we named, I know not why, " the Trojan,'' 

 told us that Garibaldi, who was in his younger days a keen 

 sportsman, had turned out on Caprera goats. Pheasants, 

 and several species of Partridges not indigenous to the islands, 

 but could give us no information as to any results with 

 regard to the birds, though he said that the goats had multi- 

 plied exceedingly, and were very wild and difficult of approach. 

 He added that the General and his sons did all in their power 

 to preserve the game for themselves and keep the island free 

 from poachers, though they would readily give any English 

 visitors free leave to shoot and explore. But I did not like to 

 intrude in any Avay upon what proved to be the last weeks of 

 the existence of the old soldier, and we did not set foot upon 

 his domain. Porco proved to be a mass of jumbled boulders, 

 attaining to a height of perhaps 70 or 80 feet at the highest 

 point, with a little sheltered creek on the western side, of 

 just sufficient size and depth to admit our launch. We 

 searched every likely accessible hole and cranny, but found 

 nothing except bones, feathers, and fragments of the egg- 

 shells of the Shearwaters ; nor did we obtain a sight of one 

 of the terrible rats above mentioned, though numerous foot- 

 marks on the small sandy patches bore evidence to their 

 presence, and to some extent also to their unusual size, 

 though it is difficult to imagine how they support themselves 

 when the Shearwaters are away from home. I imagine that 

 the four-footed vermin must cross the sea either to Caprera 

 or the mainland, and only visit Porco during the nesting- 

 season, though the Trojan swore by alibis gods that no such 

 rats were to be found in any spot in the straits but this. I 

 may add that he distinguished these beasts by the name of 

 '' Pontici,"" and I much regret that we were unable to obtain a 

 specimen. We returned to our anchorage by the channel 

 between the mainland and the island of San Stefano, a high 

 barren ridge of rock that lies between Sardinia and Mad- 



