174 Bird Notes from Trieste to Bombay. 



day wore on— these were most probably either Puffinus hiihli, 

 the Mediterranean Sheai'water or Puffinis yeIkoiia>ius — the Lev- 

 antine Shearwater. 



March 20th. This morning the Herring Gulls have 

 been replaced by Larus fuscus — the Lesser Black -backed 

 Gull, only two of the Herring Gulls being noted. Both species 

 are very similar, the grey back and wings of the Herring 

 Gull becoming dark sooty in the Black-back. About mid- 

 day we reached Port Said; the harbour swarms with Larus 

 ridibundus the Black-headed Gull, and with them are a few 

 L. cachinyians and fuscus. We left Port Said about 6 p.m. 

 so consequently the greater part of the canal — where one sees 

 so many birds as a rule — was traversed by night. 



March 21st, Passed through the Bitter Lakes about 

 5—6 a.m., where Larus ridihwndus was very numerous. Very 

 few specimens had fully assumed the breeding plumage. The 

 majority being either immature birds or birds that had only 

 partially donned their breeding attire. Entering the narrow 

 canal again that leads from the Bitter Lakes to Suez we noted 

 the following birds: two Ceryle rudis, Pied Kingfisher, many 

 Swallows (apparently Hirundo rustica), several large Crows 

 or Ravens, one Larus cachinnans, Larus ridibundus, and 

 several Wagtails (all oi' the Motacilla alba type), and also 

 no,ted a flight oi' six Cormorants, Phalacrocorax alba, some 

 of which were in full breeding plumage. When we reached 

 Suez I saw thi'ee Herons, Ardea cinerea, fishing in some shallows, 

 and a Cormorant sitting on a beacon with his wings out- 

 sitretched to catch the sun. 



For a time the ship lay at anchor in the roads off Port 

 Tewfik, where great numbers of Gulls surrounded the ship, 

 flying round close or settling in flocks on the water. The vari- 

 ous buoys also formed favourite resting places. 'I he majority 

 were Larus ridibundus but L. cachin?ians and L. fuscus were 

 numerous also. While we were here I saw a very hawk-like 

 bird flying swiftly across the water, occasionally having skir- 

 mishes with the Gulls— this turned out to be Richardson's Skua, 

 Stercorarius crepidatus. 



As we steamed out of the roads two big flights of Plover 

 or Waders flew swiftly across the bay in front of us, l)ut the 

 distance was too great to allow of the species being identified. 



