from Mesohnghi and Southern ^-Etolia. 295 



travelling is less than half a mile an hour, the Spotted Eagle 

 [A. mevia) also finds a congenial abode. There arc generally 

 two or three pairs in the forest to which I am alluding, and one 

 is continually reminded of their presence by the shrill cry they 

 utter. During the last winter I noticed a few which frequented 

 the marshes of Ali Tchelebi across the gulf, and also the exten- 

 sive forests in the plain of Agrinion. If the winter be hard, 

 they may quit continental Greece entirely, as they feed very 

 largely on reptiles, especially on frogs. Towards the end of 

 February an accession to their numbers was apparent, the birds 

 being generally seen coasting the marshy shores of the lagoon 

 on their way northwards. Those few which winter here possibly 

 join this migration, and their places may be occupied by others 

 coming from further south. This, however, is merely conjecture; 

 certain it is, that towards the beginning of May a nest or two 

 will be found in the jungle which covers portions of the delta 

 of the Phidaris at the foot of the unsealed precipices of Moimt 

 Varassovo. To this place (dismissing for a moment our Eagle) 

 I would again direct attention, as one dear to the eye of an 

 ornithologist. The tall white stems of the ash and the poplar, 

 and the huge trunks of the wide-spreading plane-tree shoot out 

 of amass of tangled foliage, and support — sometimes from their 

 topmost branches — rich curtains of dark green ivy, and festoons 

 of the creeping vine that fall in graceful folds and pendulous lines, 

 to mingle once more with the general mass below. Here you 

 may see the Golden Oriole, the Jay, the Roller, and the Bee-eater, 

 enlivening the verdure of the woods by the brilliancy of their 

 colours, whilst from some hollow tree will start an Eagle Owl, 

 only to hide himself in yet obscurer depths. Woodpeckers of 

 more than one species are not uncommon, to judge by the holes 

 they have drilled in the trees ; and amongst the Tits it would 

 not be difficult, perhaps, for a careful observer to discern Parus 

 pendulinus and Parus lugubris, the former of which undoubtedly 

 breeds in similar localities. A stray pair of Blackbird and 

 Song Thrush, out of the flocks that frequent this place in winter, 

 may remain behind to breed ; but the duties of the sylvan 

 chorus are performed by innumerable Warblers, S. elaica, S. 

 olivetorum, S. luscinia, S. altisonans, and many others, which 



