in the Dobrudscha. 367 



places. The Marsh Harrier seemed to be cock of the walk in 

 default of any nobler bird. I found a new nest of this species 

 in some reeds, and an old nest in a low blackthorn bush by the 

 water's edge. There is another Harrier also pretty numerous 

 here, the same which is so extremely abundant on the uplands. 

 I presume it to be Circus cineraceus, but not having succeeded 

 in shooting one, could not undertake to say for certain. 



The old Turkish town of Kustendje covers the low promon- 

 tory which partially protects the harbour. The new town is 

 built higher up, on the edge of the undulating plateau of the 

 Dobrudscha — an open treeless tract of country very much like 

 what the downs of Newmarket and the heaths of Suffolk may 

 have been in former times. Trajan's wall runs across from here 

 in a westerly direction to the Danube. Besides the wall of 

 Trajan, there are many interesting remains of antiquity at this 

 place, which occupies the site of ancient Tomi. If Ovid had been 

 a sportsman and naturalist, he might have found abundant con- 

 solation in his exile ; but having been in all probability indifferent 

 to the advantages of Bustard-hunting, and totally unable to ap- 

 preciate the ornithological riches of the country, he seems to 

 have found the place very dull. In the face of a ravine on the 

 edge of the new town, recent excavations have laid bare some 

 Roman temples and other remains. These the railway autho- 

 rities, with more zeal for the improvement of the harbour than 

 for the conservation of antiquities, are using up in the formation 

 of the new breakwater. Thus unhappy Tomi is being disinterred 

 only to be re-entombed in the waves. A facetious acquaintance 

 observed, that when the breakwater is finished, a monument 

 should be erected at the extremity with " Here lies Tommy" by 

 way of epitaph ! Wheatears and Hoopoes frequent the old stones 

 that are lying about. The latter bird is very tame, and a great 

 ornament to the place ; but I fear that, as far as Kustendje is 

 concerned, his epita})h too may shortly be wanted. Numerous 

 tumuli, attributed, with what reason I do not know, to the Tar- 

 tars, occur on the plateau ; to some of these the Ruddy Shelduck 

 is very partial. 



The birds of the plateau or open down- country come next 

 under our observation. Here it must be remembered that there 



