390 Mr. W. H. Simpson on some of the Birds 



If I remember rightly, the Scandinavian name of " Tolk," 

 applied to this bird, attests a similar appreciation of its evil 

 qualities. Some individuals of Totanus ochropus remain so late, 

 that their breeding-quarters may be nearer than is generally 

 supposed. We can believe almost anything of a bird that so far 

 departs from the habits of its congeners, as occasionally to lay 

 its eggs in old nests of tree-building birds *. Trmgoides hypo- 

 leucus was not observed on the lagoon, but there is little doubt 

 of its breeding amongst the pebble beds of the large rivers. On 

 the 21st I was very much surprised to notice, at the mouth of 

 the town-ditch of Mesolonghi, a large flock of Tringa suharquata. 

 The following day they were again seen at the edge of the 

 lagoon to the eastward of the town, where there is a good deal 

 of rubbish occasionally thrown out, amongst which they seemed 

 to be eagerly picking. About half of the flock were beginning 

 to show the red breast and body, and some were in almost full 

 nuptial plumage. What a long journey had these little fellows 

 before them, for whom, in search of a breeding-ground, the ex- 

 treme Cape of Siberia is not far enough north ! [I think it is 

 Middendorf who says this.] Small flocks of Tringa temminckii 

 may be seen about thQ same time, or even later. Numenius 

 tenuirostris would seem to breed somewhere in the neighbour- 

 hood, though no one, as far as I know, has ever had the luck 

 to find its nests. 



Ibis falcincllus occurs in flocks of moderate size. During the 

 spring I have seen several together so late as the 15th, appa- 

 rently on passage. It is not veiy probable that any breed in 

 this district, though a few most likely remain behind in Epirus 

 and Albania. The main body are merely en route for the 

 marshes of the Danube and its affluents, where great quan- 

 tities of them annually rear their young. The same remarks 

 will apply to Ardece purpurea, gurzetta, and comata, all of which 

 species I have noticed in the marshes of Northern Elis, just 

 across the gvxlf, so late as the middle of May. If any of them do 

 breed here during the month of June, they are so well concealed 

 in the reed thickets as to escape observation. Ardea cinerea 

 would seem to remain here all the year round. Ardea minuta is 



* Dr. Kriiper has found eggs of this species so placed in Pomerania. 



