396 Mr. H. Saunders on the Ornithology 



Professor Doderlein, who will in a short time make it the richest 

 collection of Eui'opean birds in Italy. The finest specimens of 

 Larus gelastes, L. melanocephalus, and L. minutus are to be seen 

 here ; and, to my surprise, L.a/na7/a is a regular visitant in winter 

 [cf. supra, p. 255). I confess I was as incredulous as any of my 

 readers can be, until I had carefully examined a series of speci 

 mens*. Larus tridactylus is found, but very rarely. I learned that 

 Vultur cinereus is extremely uncommon in Sicily, though abun- 

 dant in Sardinia; and indeed, in spite of the similarity in 

 raggedness and sparse population to Spain, yet raptorial birds 

 appear to be by no means so abundant as in the latter country. 

 Apart from ornithology, I cannot imagine a more delightful 

 winter residence than Palermo, superior in comfort, cheapness, 

 cleanliness, and, I think, in scenery to overrated, foul-smelling 

 Naples. At Messina I called on Chevalier Luigi Benoit, the 

 author of a well-known work on the birds of Sicily ; but find- 

 ing that his collection did not contain any special rarities, and 

 a violent sirocco wind rendering life unendurable, I escaped by 

 the afternoon train to Catania, where one could at least gaze 

 upon Etna and talk of ascending it. It was all talk after all ; 

 for the " Casa Inglese " had been broken into by the snow, as 

 we found when we got to Nicolosi ; and though Dr. Gemmel- 

 laro did his best to send us up, the guides would not go. The 

 abominable wind continued for a week, no vessels coming in 

 or going out ; and the Museum, though it contained a few good 

 things, was soon exhausted. Its rarities are Glaucidium passe- 

 rinum, Hirundo rufula, and H. cahirica, and of course the Fran- 

 colin {Francolinus vulgaris). At Palermo I was told that this 

 last still existed at Terranova, on the south coast, and nowhere 

 else. Of the first statement I am doubtful ; of the second I am 

 pretty sure; for during a month's stay in Sicily I repeatedly 

 oflFered 50 lire for a Francolino in the flesh, without success. 



* We certainly had no American specimens for comparison, and could 

 only compare tlie supposed immature birds in winter-plumage with spe- 

 cimens of similar age of Larus canus, L. gelastes, L. leucophthalmus, L. 

 melanocephalus, L. ridibundus, and L. tridactylus, by the help of the last 

 edition of Degland's ' Ornithologie Europ^enne.' The birds in question 

 did not belong to uiiy of the species just named. 



