4U Mr. F. C. Selous on 



river, halfway between a large open lake and a vast marsh 

 almost entirely covered with reeds. The water of both the 

 lake and the marsh is brackish^ but not exactly salt. The 

 (ireek to whom we had brought a letter of introduction 

 we found to be a very intelligent-looking, civil, and obliging 

 man ; he kept a sort of inn, and rented a fishery on the 

 lake from the Turkish Government. Noticing many Lesser 

 Kestrels flying in and out of the loft ai)ove the inn, we at 

 once explored it and found several clutches of eggs, smaller 

 and lighter in colour than those of the Common Kestrel. 

 In some cases a slight apology for a nest had been made, but 

 more often the eggs were laid in some inequality of the floor 

 of the loft. Just outside the inn a large tree was growing, 

 among the rather scanty foliage of which I noticed a nest 

 suspended at the end of a long thin branch, at a height of 

 ab(mt 25 feet from the ground. It proved to be that of a 

 Penduline Tit {JEgithalus pendulinus), but was not quite 

 ready for eggs. This nest was beautifully made of a kind 

 of wild cotton closely felted together, cameFs hair being- 

 used to attach it to the branch at the end of which it hung. 

 In shape it closely resembled the nest of a Long-tailed Tit, 

 but the entrance-hole, instead of being flush with the side, 

 was at the extremity of a neatly-made passage, over an inch 

 in length and less than an inch in diameter. From the 

 inland plains of Asia Minor, where sheep and camels are 

 numerous, I have seen nests of the Penduline Tit made 

 entirely from the wool and hair of these animals. 



After we had had something to eat, Mr. B. H and 



I started for the marsh. We were accompanied by our own 

 two servants, and two or three local men who were to act as 

 guides, all of us being mounted. We first crossed the 

 Meander on a ferry, and then rode some two or three miles 

 across an open plain, to the edge of the marsh. While 

 crossing the plain we saw several large flocks of Rose- 

 coloured Pastors {Pastor roseus) , which frequently settled 

 on the ground. I believe that these birds are late breeders, 

 and fancy that those we saw were on their w^ay to their 

 breeding-grounds. 



