20 Lord Lilford^s Cruise in the Mediterranean. 



graceful. I believe I am correct in saying that this is the 

 only spot in Europe in which this famous plant is now found. 

 There are fine Snipe-marshes on both sides of the river; but 

 these birds had all but left the country, and we only saw some 

 three or four. The usual marsh-birds were apparently com- 

 mon; but we saw nothing here which we had not previously 

 met with in the Pantani. We found several nests of common 

 Magpie in the papyrus, which in some places grows to a height 

 of twelve feet or more. I had always heard great accounts of 

 the Snipe and wild-fowl shooting in these marshes, and can 

 well imagine it must be excellent at the right times of year ; 

 but there is nothing like the extent of the Pantani, and four 

 good walkers who did not mind wet and dirt could, I should 

 say, easily work the practicable portions of the marsh in a 

 winter^s day. 



Our Syracusan zoological parties began to drop in after two 

 or three days, and brought off many bats and lizards and 

 snakes ; of the former I should say that we had, one morning, 

 at least five hundred brought on board alive, in a tall basket. 

 I put on a glove, pulled them out by handfuls, and found 

 that the prevalent species was Vespertilio schreibersi ; the 

 three or four European Rhinolophi were also common, but 

 (according to the collectors) frequent a cave or caves apart 

 from V. schreibersi ; only one V. murinus appeared, and a 

 stray V. kuhli or two ; and I think one V. megapodius com- 

 pletes the list of species. I selected a fair series of each 

 species, and threw the remainder up into the air from the 

 yacht^s deck. Some flew on board the vessels in harbour, 

 particularly into the paddle-boxes of the war-steamer 'Tripoli,' 

 whose Captain told me he was afraid that when he went to 

 sea his paddles would destroy the nests of these bats ! 



During our stay at Syracuse the spring migrants were 

 arriving in great numbers, the most conspicuous being Little 

 Kestrels [Falco cenchris), Hoopoes {Upupa epops), Alpine 

 Swifts [Cypselus melba), common Swifts {Cypselus apus), and 

 immense flocks of Yellow Wagtails [Budytes flavus, Linn.) ; 

 with these last were a few of the Black-headed Wagtail (6. 

 melanocephalus) , which I am more than ever inclined to con- 

 sider a good species. 



