366 Mr. J. II. Gurney on the 



who has not something to tell us of land-birds passing his 

 ship or alighting upon it, and in some cases remaining on 

 board a Avhole day — see the diary of William Thompson on 

 board H.M.S. ^Beacon ^ (Annals of N. H., 1842); and 

 articles by the late Lieut, Sperling (Ibis^ 1864, p. 268), 

 Lord Lilford (three cruises), and others. The three natu- 

 ralists here mentioned enumerate 55 species of birds, such 

 as Circus cineraceus, Falco vespertinus, Scups giu, Lanius 

 pomerayius, Sylvia subalpina, and Plegadis falcinellus, seen 

 on the Mediterranean, many of which were observed several 

 times, and were there space I would willingly quote some 

 of their experiences. 



Perhaps, before proceeding further, a short description of 

 this part of Provence, as it appears in April and May, may 

 not be out of place. The Var is a Department with no great 

 lakes or rivers, but there are forests, of which the Foret des 

 Maures, formerly inhabited by Agiiila navia, is probably one 

 of the most attractive. There are many valleys^ and in them 

 it must often be warm enough for migratory birds to halt, 

 when the mountain-land is still too cold to provide them with 

 insect-food. Even in the most sheltered places, however, the 

 delicate Hirundines are completely nonplussed by any sudden 

 drop in the thermometer, and after a single day's fasting- 

 have hardly strength enough to fly, especially in the case of 

 H. rust tea. 



The slopes of the Esterel are clothed with pines of three 

 kinds — Pinus halepensis, P. maritima, and P. pinea (the 

 '' pin parasol " or " umbrella pine ") — and are the home of 

 Bubo ignavus and a few Eagles, besides being the refuge of 

 many foxes, marten-cats (five of which were brought into 

 Grasse while we were there), and wild boars, for the last of 

 which hunts are organized, while poison is laid about for the 

 foxes. Further down, mingled with pines, are large woods 

 of cork-trees, the skinned trunks of Avhich present a very 

 unsightly appearance ; these are the resort of Jays and 

 Woodpeckers. Interspersed with them are tracts of broken 

 ground where the Eed-legged Partridge breeds, and when 

 these districts are clothed with Cistus of two kinds. Erica 



