438 Mr. C. A. Wright's Visit to Filfla. 



Wood-warblers, and a Whitethroat. Several Swallows {Hirundo 

 rustica) skimmed over the ground on the top, catching flies, 

 which there abounded. The Blue Thrush, true to its love of deso- 

 late places, was there to cheer us with its song, though rather 

 plaintive withal. The truly indigenous birds of the rock are the 

 Cinereous and Manx Shearwaters and the Storm Petrel [Tha- 

 lassidroma pelagica). We did not find any eggs or young of any 

 of these three species. In June and July the eggs and young 

 of all three may be found. We came across several nets stretched 

 on canes. We were told that they are used to catch the Shear- 

 waters as they leave their holes in the rock in the evening. 

 These birds are all, I believe, more or less crepuscular in their 

 habits. Several of the nets had either live or dead birds of 

 Puffinus anglorum entangled in them, which had been left there 

 by the fishermen until they were wanted. Some of the feathers 

 are used to put on hooks for Bonito, Mackerel, &c., and the flesh 

 of the birds is sometimes employed for baiting basket-traps for 

 catching fish. We did not see any Storm Petrels or Cinereous 

 Shearwaters on the island this trip ; but on our passage back to 

 Malta under sail, with a fresh breeze from the north-west, we 

 repeatedly fell in with small flocks of them, either floating grace- 

 fully on the water or shearing the surface in the manner peculiar 

 to these bi^rds. I must not omit to mention that a large kind 

 of land snail {Helix candidissima) was very abundant on Filfla; 

 indeed so much so, on the high level ground, that it was im- 

 possible to take a step without crushing dozens of them. On 

 gaining this part of the island, one of our party started a Rabbit 

 (grey), and shortly afterwards another (of a reddish colour), but 

 failed in obtaining either. On making a second ascent after 

 lunch, another Rabbit, or one of the two seen at first, was started 

 and shot. It was a female, tolerably fat, notwithstanding the 

 little herbage the rock aS"ords. While searching for objects of 

 natural history, we were not a little surprised to find here a 

 fragment of iron shell, and lower down a couple of 40-lb. 

 Armstrong shot. It appears that H.M.S. Marlborough had 

 been using the island as a target. In one of the shot the leaden 

 casing was nearly all stripped off"; in the other it was very little 

 injured. 



