of the Delta of the Rhone. 1 81 



south-east. The number of these birds frequenting the 

 Camargue during the spring of 1894 was from 500 to 600 at 

 the most. Several attempts were made at taking an 

 approximate census of tlie Flamingo-population^ but they 

 always failed, owing to the habit the birds had of herding 

 together, or marshalling themselves into an extended line 

 several ranks deep. In the Beauduc district the islands 

 in the etangs are the breeding-grounds of many Common 

 Terns and a iev/ Mallard. These three species, all of them 

 local in their distribution, form the resident summer birds 

 of the great lagoon district of the Camargue. 



The lagoons and their shores are, however, resorted to 

 during the seasons of migration by a multitude of transitory 

 wading-birds; for the Rhone valley is a highway much used 

 by these and many other feathered travellers annually 

 journeying to and from the arctic and tropical regions. During 

 our stay it was our good fortune to see many of these 

 interesting migrants, and we shall have something to say 

 concerning them under the subject of migration, and also 

 when treating of the various species. 



The great wastes share with the lagoons the entire 

 southern portion of the Camargue. There are, also, extensive 

 wastes to be found in the north. They form vast level 

 expanses, and much resemble heaths in appearance, being 

 clothed with the salt-loving sea-blite {Suada fruticosa, var. 

 brevifolia) , which flourishes in varying luxuriance. On those 

 wastes bordering the Mediterranean this plant is much 

 interspersed with shrubs of the glasswort {Salicornia 

 radicans). 



Bird-life in this desert region, for it is little else, is again 

 very meagrely represented; but there are a few species 

 practically confined to it in the Delta. Thus it was here 

 that we found the pretty little Spectacled Warbler {Sylvia 

 conspicillata) and obtained its nest in tufts of the sea-blite. 

 Here, too, that fine Chat, Saxicola stapazina, was ob- 

 served, especially when the waste was contiguous to 

 cultivated land ; the Wheatear, to our surprise, was pre- 

 sent in small numbers and doubtlessly breeding ; and the 



