474 Letters, Extracts from Correspondence, Notices, ^c. 

 XLI. — Letters, Extracts from Correspondence, Notices, ^c. 



The following letters, addressed to the " Editor of The Ibis," 

 have been received since our last issue : — 



London, July 25th, 1863. 

 Sir, — In the July Number of ' The Ibis/ I find a letter from 

 Mr. Tristram, in which, after making various observations on 

 the non-migratory habits of the Rock Martin {Cotyle rupes- 

 tris), he says that he is unable to ascertain satisfactorily a 

 single locality where it is only found in summer. Now the bird 

 in question certainly leaves Genoa in the winter ; it arrives early 

 in March, nests in considerable numbers at Schiena d'Asino, 

 where the torrent Bisagno has its source, and leaves in Novem- 

 ber. I am, however, inclined to think that the only reason of 

 its migration is that Genoa does not present warm rocky nooks 

 as Mentone does, and, moreover, is subject to very cold maestrom 

 winds coming from the Alps, 



I remain, yours very truly, 



H. H. GiGLIOLI. 



P.S. — As an instance of the contrary occurring, namely, their 

 not breeding in the localities they resort to in the winter, I beg 

 to quote the following from Jerdon's * Birds of India,^ vol. i. 

 p. 166 : — " I have only seen this plain-coloured Martin on the 

 summit of the Neilgherries and at Darjeeliug, occasionally in 

 flocks, at other times in small parties, and only in the cold 

 weather. At Darjeeling they seem to be birds of passage entirely, 

 as I saw them in October in immense numbers for a few days, 

 and subsequently they had entirely disappeared." 



To the Editor of ' The Ibis.' 

 Sir, — I have read with much interest Mr. Cochrane's account 

 of the habits of Cuculus glandarius. Last winter I passed three 

 months on the Nile, and obtained several specimens of this bird, 

 but only one of its eggs. On our return down the river, near 

 Farshoot (Jan. 28), I fell in with quite a colony of this Cuckoo, 

 and shot several specimens. While I was in the act of picking 

 up a wounded female, the sharp eyes of my Arab attendant 



