342 Hon. T. L. Powys on Birds 



Godwits, Coots^ Grebes, 1 Eagle-Owl, 1 Short-eared Owl, Green- 

 shanks, Redshanks, and Dunlin. I only quote the above extracts 

 to show the sort of sport to be met with in a season which I was 

 assured was the worst for Woodcocks in the recollection of " the 

 oldest inhabitant/' 



The next season, a very severe one, was much better, but was 

 not reckoned anything very remarkable. My companion and I 

 then devoted our energies chiefly to the pursuit of wild-fowl, and 

 met with tolerable success. To return to the habits of what I 

 once heard an auctioneer term " that popular bird the Wood- 

 cock " (he was offering its eggs for sale), it arrives in Corfu 

 generally a week before it makes its appearance on the main- 

 land, and fair sport may there be met with for a few days, in the 

 arbutus-coverts of Strangili, Govino, and Mesonghi. I must 

 now wind up my long digression from the " scientific descrip- 

 tions of birds," to which we have been informed the ' Ibis ' is 

 chiefly devoted, and in conclusion strongly recommend any 

 lover of sport, for its own sake, to spend a winter in Greek 

 waters, and in wet weather to try the hills about Butrinto, 

 Kataito, and Tre Scoglie ; in bright frosts, the old woods in the 

 valley of Vrana, from Butrinto to Pagania ; and in all weathers, 

 Santa Quaranta, Phanari, and the Gulf of Arta; to wear the 

 strongest jean he can procure, lined with flannel ; and, above all, 

 to be uniformly courteous and civil to the natives, who can, and 

 occasionally will be of great service to those who treat them 

 kindly. 



170. Solitary Snipe. {Scolopax major.) 



Arrives in Corfu and Epirus in small numbers in March, re- 

 maining about a month in the low-lying maize-fields and vine- 

 yards ; a few are always to be met with at that season in the 

 Val di Roppa. I have occasionally killed this species in Epirus 

 in September. 



171. Common Snipe. [Scolopax gallinago.) 



Very common in all the marshes of the mainland and the 

 islands, from September till the end of March. In the months 

 of October and November 1857, it was no unusual occurrence 

 for two good shots to bag from fifty up to a hundred couple 



