Birds of Teneriffe. 425 



months of my visit ; consequently my notes are confined 

 to o])servations made in Teneriffe itself, and principally 

 on the north and north-west portions of the island. It 

 is therefore hardly desirable to tabulate the notes in any 

 formal manner, and I think the following brief account of 

 the general results of my work will be much more inter- 

 esting. 



On arriving in TeneriflFe I had one or two fixed ideas in 

 my head, thanks in a great measure to the advice of ornitho- 

 logical friends. These were, in the first place, to endeavour 

 to clear up the mystery surrounding the identification of 

 the one or more species of '^Trocaz'''' Pigeons occurring in 

 the Canary Islands — the Columha laurivora of Webb and 

 Berthelot, the C. bolUi of Godman, and perhaps the C. trocaz 

 of Madeira and the Azores ; secondly, to determine, if pos- 

 sible, the actual species of Buzzard, Shrike, Raven, Turtle 

 Dove, Bustard, &c. occurring within the Canarian archi- 

 pelago. I was unable to effect the satisfactory settlement of 

 all these questions, but I trust that the information I ac- 

 quired may clear up many doubtful points. 



To begin with the Pigeons : an interesting subject certainly, 

 but one requiring a visit to the other western islands of the 

 group, notably Gomera, for a proper determination of their 

 distribution. It was some time before I even saw a Pigeon, 

 the shady laurel and heath forests frequented by them being 

 high up on the mountain-side and a long ride from Orotava. 

 I was at last rewarded, however, by obtaining a pair of birds, 

 with nest and egg, of what is undoubtedly C hollii of God- 

 man. Three nests were found, but only one was occupied 

 at the time. I received a second egg from another of these 

 nests shortly afterwards. As the nest and o,^'^ of this Pigeon 

 are perhaps almost unknown at the present time, I venture 

 to give a few particulars. 



In company with my friend Major Loyd, late 21st Hussars, 

 I rode over a villainous path from Orotava to the mountains 

 on the 9th March, and securing the services of an intelligent 

 native as guide, proceeded to the laurel forest in search of 

 the " Paloma turquesa,'' as they call it locally. Our guide 



