174 Mr. W. Eagle C\Qx\e— Ornithology 



of the various districts of the Delta and their bird-life, 

 while the final portion is devoted to an annotated list of all 

 the species observed in the various localities of the Bouches- 

 du-Khone visited. During this excursion ornithology received 

 undivided attention, and, by dint of hard work and long 

 hours, our peregrinations extended to all parts of the Delta ; 

 the more remote and uninhabited districts of the south 

 receiving special attention. 



The " lie de la Camargue " is a vast plain covering an 

 area of nearly 400 square miles. It lies between the two 

 branches of the Rhone and is triangular in form, haAing the 

 quaint town of Aries at its apex, and the JNIediterranean as 

 its base. It is remarkable for the extent of its marshes 

 clothed with forests of reeds; the number of its shallow 

 "etangs'^ and lagoons; its wide wastes covered with low, 

 salt-loving shrubs ; and, in summer, its expanses of sand 

 glittering under a saline efflorescence. The greater part 

 of the region is indeed simply desert; and the similitude is 

 heightened by the ever-present mirage, which shimmers over 

 plain and lagoon, much to the bewilderment of the visitor 

 unacquainted with the geography of the region. It must 

 not, however, be inferred that cultivated areas are entirely 

 absent, for this is not the case. In the north, and also in 

 the east and west, along the banks of the Rhones, the 

 labours of the reclaimer and his elaborate system of iiTigation 

 have prevailed. But in the central and southern districts, 

 which form at least two-thirds of the area of the Delta, the 

 ground is so strongly impregnated with salt that its redemp- 

 tion is considered to be hopeless. 



The Camargue boasts of one village only, the small fishing 

 community of Saintes Maries in the extreme south-west. 

 In the cultivated districts there are scattered farmsteads ; 

 but in the south it is practically uninhabited, there being 

 only two lighthouses, the few lonely '"^ vigies •'•' of the Garde 

 Maritime and Postes des Douanes, and the Saline de 

 Giraud. Saintes Maries, described in ' Murray's Guide ' 

 as having " all the appearance of an African town in the 

 desert, and consisting of an old edifice, half fortress, half 



