Ornithology of Cyprus. 413 



1001. Grus communis Bechst. 



Large flights of the Common Crane cross over the island 

 at the spring and autumn migrations and are a very 

 familiar sight : the spring movement takes place from the 

 middle to towards the end of March: the autumn flight from 

 towards the end of August to about the middle of September. 

 Large numbers sometimes alight, hut the bulk pass high in 

 the air. A few frequent the marshes during the cold season, 

 and I have notes of having seen small flocks of from a dozen 

 to twenty individuals throughout the winter months crossing 

 the Mesaoria plain from the Famagusta to the Morphou 

 marshes. On January 15th, 1908, I saw and unsuccessfully 

 stalked two on the Acheritou reservoir. 



This species appears to have been first recorded by Lord 

 Lilford. 



1007. Grus virgo (Linn.). 



The Demoiselle Crane is a regular spring and autumn 

 migrant, hut has not very often been definitely recorded, 

 owing no doubt to the difficulty with which these birds can 

 be approached. Lord Lilford met with a flock of some thirty 

 near Larnaca in the middle of April ; and Guillemard, who 

 only found the head of a specimen on a cottage door during 

 his first visit, subsequently observed its arrival in the same 

 neighbourhood and obtained it at the beginning of April. 

 It appears to stay only some two or three weeks. From 

 observations taken at Limassol it would seem to arrive at the 

 very end of March and return in mid-September and the 

 beginning of October. 



1010. Otis tarda Linn. 



The casual references to Bustards which may be found in 

 several accounts of Cyprus do not in general trouble to 

 specify the species. Lord Lilford, however, gathered from 

 what he was told in the island that the Great Bustard was a 

 casual and somewhat uncommon visitor to the Mesaoria plain. 

 Guillemard received similar information, and was informed 

 by Mr. King, then (in 1887) Commissioner of Nicosia, that 



