List of Birds observed in Malta and Go::o. 237 



AcRocEPHALus TURDOiDEs {Calumoherpe turdoides, Ibis, 

 1864, p. 72) . Two of these birds were taken alive, Oct. 1873, 

 and became very tame in confinement, eating readily from 

 the hand, and going in and out of their cage, in the open air, 

 without any fear. Mr. F. Mamo, of this island, who is very, 

 successful in his treatment of soft-billed birds as cage-fa- 

 vourites, kept them for some time. None of the pictures I 

 have seen gives a correct idea of this bird^s appearance in life. 

 Its most natural position is crouching, the neck very thick 

 and short, with its large head slightly raised and drawn in 

 close to the shoulders, which are round and broad. 



Merops persicus (Ibis, 1864, p. 73). One of these rare 

 and adventitious wanderers to Europe was shot in Malta since 

 the publication of my " Fourth Appendix. ^^ It was killed at 

 the end of May 1871, at the Inquisitor's Palace, by P. Camil- 

 leri, barber of the Central Hospital, out of a flock ; but whether 

 of the same or of the common kind {M. upiaster) he could 

 not say. He was first attracted by its note, which was dif- 

 ferent from any he had heard before. The specimen is in 

 my collection. It is a male in spring plumage. It is the 

 only Malta-killed specimen extant, as all trace is lost of the 

 only other example I know of, said by Schembri to have been 

 killed in Sept. 1840. 



Alcedo ispiDA (Ibis, 1864, p. 73) . This bird was unusually 

 abundant in the autumn of 1873. Its Maltese name, Ghasfur 

 la San Martin, is derived from the time of year it generally 

 makes its appearance, namely, the Feast of St. Martin. One 

 bird-stuffer preserved about twenty specimens. I noticed 

 it on the 30th Oct. and 3rd Nov., 1873, and 7th Jan., 1874— 

 on the second of these occasions in the Dockyard Creek, 

 right in amongst the boats and shi])ping. 



Tringa minuta (Ibis, 1864, p. 492). I shot several ex- 

 amples on the 27th May, this year ; but although they had 

 almost assumed complete summer plumage, dissection did 

 not show any signs of approach to the breeding-state. The 

 stomach of one of them contained small marine shells of the 

 species Truncatella truncatula. 



SER. 111. VOL. n. s 



