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



the species, though in small numbers, near Butrinto in Epirus, 

 which is pretty nearly as far north as it seems to have been 

 observed. 



Visiting the same lagoon in the month of February, a great 

 change will be perceived in its ornithological aspect, not less than 

 in the surrounding landscape. Instead of the gorgeous M. me- 

 lanocephala in pairs, we have small flocks of M. hoarula and M. 

 alba. Not a single individual of Sterna anglica (as far as my 

 observation goes) is to be seen, though S. hirundo maintains its 

 ground. Instead of /S. anglica, a few S. cantiaca and many S. 

 caspia are flying over its waters, which are now well stocked with 

 Ducks, though not so fully as a month ago. " li'kri6o<i, irX-i]- 

 00^," said a Mesolonghiote, in answer to our inquiries touch- 

 ing the Ducks when first we came ; but many have gone over 

 since then to the Patras market. Of the true Ducks, Anates 

 penelope, boschas, and crecca are the most numerous; A. querque- 

 dula not scarce ; A. acuta very rai'e ; A. strepera not seen at 

 all. Rhynchaspis clyp)eata tolerably numerous. The genus Oide- 

 mia not represented. Fuligula cristata and F. ferina extremely 

 numerous ; F. nyroca and Clangula glaucion less so. The last 

 four species keep to the open water more than the true Ducks, 

 which latter lie up amongst the reeds and sedge near the springs. 

 F. marila and F. rujina not observed. Mergus albellus is said to 

 be very plentiful at times ; but not many were seen during the 

 winter of 1860. 



As this short account of the Birds of Western Greece is not 

 intended to contain an exhaustive list of the species that occur 

 there, but simply to point out a few of its most obvious ornitho- 

 logical features, there is no need to go through the shore birds 

 and other Waders which frequent its lakes and swamps during 

 the winter season. We may be sure that, in a country with so 

 large an extent of sea-coast, and where draining is at present so 

 little practised, the genera Charadrius, Totanus, Tringa, Scolopax, 

 and Numenius are well represented. There is only one other 

 bird (a most conspicuous feature in the lagoon of Mesolonghi) 

 to which I would direct attention, and the more so as it is likely 

 soon to disappear from the district, because it is too good a 

 fisherman to be allowed a cast without paying any rent. 



