30 Lord Lilford's Cruise in the Mediterranean. 



could not succeed in bagging any of them. I shot a fine 

 Raven (one of a pair seen) ; and the men brought off two 

 young Herring-Gulls, and reported many lizards and snakes 

 amongst the coarse grass which covers the summit of the 

 island. An ice-plant, which I believe to be Mesembryanthe- 

 muni crystallinum, grows in profusion amongst the rocks of 

 Vacca, and, though highly ornamental, by no means assists 

 the bird's-nester. The yacht ran down with a light northerly 

 breeze, and picked us up about 9 a.m. ; and away we went to 

 the Island of Toro, some seven miles in a southerly direction. 

 This rock is the spot upon which La Marmora found, and 

 (I believe) first made known Falco eleanorcB by that name, 

 though I have no doubt it was well known to falconers long 

 before his time — though from its habits I consider it very 

 doubtful that it is the species specially protected by a decree 

 of the Pisan Duchess Eleanora, and named after her by the 

 Sardinian general. Toro is of an entirely different geological 

 character from Vacca, La Marmora calls it " une roche 

 eminemment trachytique ; il est totalement nu, k peine trouve- 

 t-on de la chicoree sauvage dans ses nombreuses fissures. La 

 roche est homogene partout, et elle ne repose pas sur le tufa ; 

 elle se decompose a I'air, et elle forme de petites gi'ottes, 

 dont le sol se couvre d^un sable fin feldspathique.^' The 

 author just quoted gives the rock an extreme altitude of 

 200 metres, and a nautical mile in circumference. The 

 landing is much more difficult than on Vacca, and the ascent 

 from the sea much more steep, though, owing to numerous 

 ledges and the absence of ice-plant, perhaps not so risky. 

 Here we found the Falco eleaonra in very large numbers, 

 and easier to shoot than on the island first explored. 



It is of course impossible to form any thing approaching to 

 an accurate computation of the numbers of any species on the 

 wing; but we agreed that whilst on Vacca there were about 

 sixty or eighty pairs of these Falcons, on Toro there must 

 have been at least three hundred pairs. 



A good many Herring-Gulls were nesting about the 

 summit ; and my men, some of whom landed, brought ofi' two 

 young birds in the down. As we lay close off" the rocks in 



