454 Lient. J. N. Kennedy on [Ibi«. 



as to local subspecies which have not yet been described in 

 Russia, Perchance some fellow member of the B.O.U., 

 visitino- the Crimea, mav find these latter a nseful indication 

 for future research. 



I would here express my indebtedness to my brother, 

 Lieut. J. R. Kennedy, M.C., R.A., who collaborated with me 

 at Novorossisk, and to Lieut. V. Martino, of Sebastopol, who 

 helped me in the Crimea. 



Dr. E. Hartert has been so very kind as to verify my 

 identification of the skins, and to assign them to their proper 

 subspecies as far as possible. 



The skins I have presented to the Natural History 

 Museum, with the exception of that of the Blue Tit shot at 

 Novorossisk, which is now in the Tring Collection. 



The eo-ffs mentioned in the second section are now in the 

 collection of Mr. J. G. Gordon, Corsemalzie, Whauphill. 



I. Novorossisk. 



Novorossisk is a small town lying round an open bay near 

 the northern end of the Caucasus Mountains and not far 

 south of the Straits of Kertch. The hills rise steeply from 

 the shore, their slopes being rocky and clothed generally 

 with low trees and bushes. Behind the hills lies Circassia 

 and the steppe-land, the Scythia of two thousand years ago, 

 where the fabled one-eyed Arimaspians waged everlasting 

 warfare with griffins which guarded treasures of gold. 



The winter climate of Novorossisk is more severe than a 

 studv of the map might lead one to suppose — the thermo- 

 meter often falls to '20° F. below freezing-point, and the sea 

 freezes alono- the shore, althouoh not to such a sreat extent 

 as in the Sea of Azov, where we had some skating and ice- 

 boating. Tlio chief feature of the weather is the north-east 

 wind, which blows with incredible velocitj' for a few days at 

 a time at irregular intervals. This wind makes the port a 

 tlangerons one, and while it blows, ships lying close inshore, 

 even inside the breakwater, are unable to connnunicate with 

 the land l)y boat. On occasion, during the nor''easter, some 

 of our officers had to crawl on hands and knees from 



